JOURNALISM OF COURAGE

SINCE 1932

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2020, NEW DELHI, LATE CITY, 12 PAGES
21 days now 40, next milestone May 3
STRICT LOCKDOWN UNTIL APRIL 20, CONDITIONAL EASING POSSIBLE IN SOME AREAS AFTER THAT, ANNOUNCES PM
Chosen the
correct path,
says Modi;
must not let
virus spread
LIZ MATHEW
& DEEPTIMAN TIWARY
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14
UNDERLINING THAT “we have
chosen the correct path” and
“our country has greatly bene-
fited from social distancing and
lockdown”, Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on Tuesday an-
nounced extension of the three-
week lockdown by another 19
days until May 3, with intensive
containment measures at
hotspots.
In a televised address to the
nation,thePrimeMinister,while
acknowledging “the problems
you have faced — some for food,
some for movement from place
to place, and others for staying
away from homes and families”,
said the lockdown will be en-
forcedstrictlyuntilApril20,after
whichtherecouldbeconditional
relaxationinspecificareasfollow-
ing assessment of the situation.
“Until20thApril,everytown,
every police station, every dis-
trict, every state will be evalu-
atedonhowmuchthelockdown
is being followed. The extent to
E
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
E X P L A I NE D
Prevention,
● incentive
THE TWIN objective of
the lockdown extension is
to not let the virus spread
to new regions and pre-
vent areas with cases
from becoming hotspots.
And the prospect of some
relaxation after April 20 is
an incentive for maxi-
mum compliance to help
the administration con-
tain the spread.
Hospital in Ahmedabad
splits COVID wards on
faith, says govt decision
PARIMAL DABHI
& SOHINI GHOSH
AHMEDABAD, APRIL 14
THECORONAVIRUSpatientsand
suspected cases at Ahmedabad
Civil Hospital, where 1,200 beds
have been set aside for COVID-
19, have been segregated into
wards depending on their faith.
While Medical Superintendent
Dr Gunvant H Rathod said a
ward for Hindu patients and an-
other for Muslim patients had
been created as per a state gov-
ernment decision, Deputy Chief
Minister and Health Minister
Nitin Patel denied any knowl-
edge of it.
Dr Rathod said, “Generally,
there are separate wards for
male and female patients. But
here, we have made separate
wardsforHinduandMuslimpa-
tients.” On being asked the rea-
son for such a segregation,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
PAGE 1
ANCHOR Passes out of Kota scrapped, stranded students want to go home
ANKITA DWIVEDI JOHRI
& DEEP MUKHERJEE
NEW DELHI, JAIPUR, APRIL 14
UNTIL MONDAY, Kota, the
Rajasthantownthatisthenation’s
tutorialcentreforentranceexam-
inations, was issuing special
passes for the safe passage home
ofitsoutstationstudents,manyof
them from Bihar and Uttar
Pradesh.Butwiththe21-daylock-
down extended on Tuesday, and
Biharrefusingtotakeinanymore
students, the district administra-
tion has stopped issuing the
Thousands gathered near Bandra station in Mumbai on Tuesday afternoon after rumours that trains were about to run. Zoya Lobo
Saamna milkar karenge,
Uddhav tells migrants;
ignore rumours: Kejriwal
VISHWAS WAGHMODE
MUMBAI, APRIL 14
MAHARASHTRA CHIEF Minister
Uddhav Thackeray switched to
HindifromMarathiduringhisad-
dresstothestateTuesdayevening
to connect with migrants from
Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and other
states and made a strong appeal
to them to be patient, and stay
back in Mumbai. Earlier in the
evening around 4 pm, about
2,000 migrants had come out on
theroadsinsuburbanBandrade-
mandingarrangementstoreturn
GUJARAT MLA WHO
MET CM RUPANI
TESTS POSITIVE
CONGRESS MLA from
Jamalpur-Khadia in the
walled city of Ahmeda-
bad, Imran Khedawala,
tested positive for the
novel coronavirus Tues-
day.KhedawalametChief
Minister Vijay Rupani, his
deputy Nitin Patel, and
MoS Home Pradeepsinh
Jadeja at the CM’s official
residenceinGandhinagar
on Tuesday, along with
twootherCongressMLAs,
Gyasuddin Shaikh and
Shailesh Parmar. An offi-
cial release said Kheda-
wala sat at a distance of
15-20 feet from the CM.
REPORTPAGE5
passes. Overnight, an estimated
25,000 of the 1.5 lakh outstation
students find themselves stuck.
“Day by day Covid-19 cases
in Kota are (rising) and here we
are facing too much problem.
We want to go home ASAP. Help
us #SendUsBackHome,”
Sangam Kumar, an 18-year-old
student from Kota, posted on his
newly created Twitter handle.
Byevening,over50,000such
tweets tagging the Prime
Minister,theHomeMinister,and
chief ministers of Bihar,
Rajasthan and UP, besides Lok
Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who
DAILY FROM: AHMEDABAD, CHANDIGARH, DELHI, JAIPUR, KOLKATA, LUCKNOW, MUMBAI, NAGPUR, PUNE, VADODARA
to their native places.
“Main kehta hoon kyun pare-
shan ho rahe ho? Aap anya rajyon
se yahan aaye ho, raho yahan.
Hamare saath raho. Ek sankat hai,
chunauti hai. Iska saamna milkar
karenge. Aap kyun darte hain? Koi
ghar jane ki aavashyakta nahi hai.
Aur hamey khushi nahi ho rahi
hai aap ko ghar mein lock karke
rakhe (Why are you worried?
You have come from other
states, stay here with us. We
have a crisis at hand, its a chal-
lenge. Lets face it together. There
is no need to return
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Prof Anand Teltumbde arrives at NIA office to surrender in
Elgar Parishad case in Mumbai on Tuesday. Prashant Nadkar
Elgar: Teltumbde, Navlakha
surrender, arrested by NIA
SADAF MODAK
MUMBAI, APRIL 14
ACADEMIC DR ANAND
Teltumbde and activist Gautam
Navlakha were arrested by the
National Investigation Agency
Tuesday after they surrendered
before it following a Supreme
Courtorderlastweekinacasere-
lated to an alleged conspiracy to
convenetheElgarParishadevent
in Pune on December 31, 2017.
Teltumbde (70) surrendered
represents the Kota-Bundi con-
stituency, had flooded the social
media platform.
“I haven’t been home in a
year. I was hoping to finally go
homeafterthe21-daylockdown
ended. A lot of my friends got
passes to leave Kota, but when I
wenttotheDM’sofficetwodays
ago, they said they weren’t issu-
ing any passes,” Sangam, who
hails from Bihar’s Jamui district
where hisfatherowns a chemist
shop, said over the phone. A stu-
dentof Resonancecoachingcen-
treinthetown,Sangamhadbeen
preparing for the IIT-JEE exams
JOURNALISM OF COURAGE
SINCE 1932
BUSINESS AS USUAL
BY UNNY
THE EDITORIAL PAGE
GOVTMUSTSPEND,
BUTFIXA LIMIT
BY DUVVURI SUBBARAO
PAGE 8
at the NIA office in South
Mumbai around 1.30 pm, after
which he was formally arrested
and taken to the special court
where the NIA sought 10 days’
custodyclaimingitwantedtoin-
vestigate his alleged involve-
ment in the case. Special Judge A
T Wankhede sent Teltumbde to
NIA custody till April 18.
Teltumbde was accompa-
nied by wife Rama Ambedkar
and her brother Prakash
Ambedkar, who heads the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
Students from UP and Bihar at a private hostel in Kota on
Tuesday. There were 40 of them, only 15 remain now. Express
Centre’s full wage order
may push industry into
Longer lockdown brings bankruptcy: Amarinder
2,000 angry workers out EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
on the street in Mumbai
SADAF MODAK, SAGAR
RAJPUT & IRAM SIDDIQUE
MUMBAI, APRIL 14
UPSETOVERtheextensionof the
national coronavirus lockdown
till May 3, nearly 2,000 migrant
workers gathered outside the
suburbanBandraWeststationin
Mumbai Tuesday demanding
the right to returnhome,and ac-
cess to food and rations. The po-
licehadtoresorttoalathicharge
to disperse the crowd.
The gathering comprised
largely of migrant workers and
In half of Mumbai’s deaths, delays in testing
and admission to hospitals; experts to audit
TABASSUM
BARNAGARWALA
MUMBAI, APRIL 14
WITH 2,684 cases and 178
deaths until Tuesday morning,
Maharashtra remains the epi-
centre of the coronavirus out-
break in the country, and
Mumbai the worst-hit city.
An analysis of the first 50
COVID-19 deaths in Mumbai
that account for 62.9 per cent
Govt wants to use PMJAY for free coronavirus testing
in private labs, but 2 cr families missing from database
HARIKISHAN SHARMA
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14
IN AN affidavit before the
Supreme Court on Monday over
its interim order directing free
coronavirus testing by private
labs, the government said
around 10.74 crore poor and
`6.00 (`8 PATNA & RAIPUR, `12 SRINAGAR) WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
their families residing in the ad-
joining slum settlements. Many
of them said they had been hop-
ing that the 21-day lockdown
that was to end Tuesday would
be lifted — or that arrangements
would be made to transport
them to their homes in UP, Bihar
and West Bengal.
Some workers claimed they
had received calls about a meet-
ing near the station on transport
arrangements to take them
home over the next few days.
NCP leader and Minority
Affairs Minister Nawab Malik,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
MUMBAI:FIRST50DEATHS
Patients dying
within a day: 26
Within 2 days: 7
Within 3 days: 7 conduct a death audit in each
Within four days: 1 case to understand why these
Five days or more: 9
deaths (112) in the state, shows
that just over half of them died
within hours or a day of hospi-
vulnerable families covered un-
der the Pradhan Mantri Jan
Arogya Yojana (PMJAY) should
be among those allowed the
benefit.
However, an internal note
prepared by the National Health
Authority (NHA), which is re-
sponsible for implementing the
PMJAY or Ayushman Bharat
which have now been put off.
Sourcesincoachinginstitutes
inKotasaidthatwhilethepasses
wereinitiallyissuedatthecollec-
torate, four days ago, the admin-
istration had, in a bid to prevent
crowding at the district magis-
trate’s office, asked the coaching
centres to collect applications
from students who wished to go
back to their home states.
ButonApril12,thedistrictad-
ministration stopped issuing
passesafter Biharrefused totake
in any more students coming
backfromthecoachingtown,and
lodged a protest with the Centre.
New Delhi
Over 1,400 new cases
in 24 hours, count
crosses 10,000-mark
ABANTIKA GHOSH
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14
ON THE day the nationwide
lockdown was extended by an-
other19days,Indiarecordedthe
highestsingle-dayspikeinnovel
coronavirus disease (COVID-19)
cases so far — 1,463 — and saw
29 deaths from the infection.
With this, the total number
of cases detected so far has
touched 10,815, of which 353
have died while 1,190 recovered.
Till now, the highest single-
day jump was 918 cases on April
12, which was followed by 905
cases on April 13. The last three
days have together seen an in-
crease of 3,286 cases, which is
over 30 per cent of the
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
CHANDIGARH, APRIL 14
PUNJAB CHIEF Minister Capt
Amarinder Singh on Tuesday
urged Prime Minister Narendra
Modi to reconsider directives to
industry and commercial estab-
lishments to pay full wages to
their workers during the lock-
downperiod,sayingitmaypush
them into bankruptcy.
InalettertoModi,Amarinder
urged the Centre to look for in-
novative solutions to protect the
interests of workers without
causing irreparable damage to
industry and commercial estab-
lishments.
In an order issued on March
29 under The Disaster
Management Act, the Union
talisation. In almost half of these
cases that led to deaths, the pa-
tients tested COVID-19 positive
after or just before their death.
The state government is
holding an experts’ meeting to
patients died so soon after ad-
mission and address possible
gaps — delay in admission, test-
ing and their experience of be-
ing turned away by hospitals.
Simultaneously, a nine-
scheme, says over two crore
families are “missing” from
those who should qualify for the
PMJAY as per deprivation points
under the Socio-Economic Caste
Census (SECC) 2011.
The SECC database is used
nationally to identify the
scheme’s beneficiaries.
The government affidavit,
A source in the disaster man-
agement department in Bihar
saidover200studentshadcome
tothestatefromKotainlessthan
a week. The district has reported
57 COVID-19 cases and a death
so far.
In a letter dated April 13,
2020, Bihar Chief Secretary
DeepakKumartoldUnionHome
Secretary Ajay Bhalla that “such
movement (from Kota to Bihar)
is not advisable”, and urged the
Centre to ensure “strict enforce-
ment of lockdown in Kota.”
“...The District Magistrate,
Kota,hasbeenissuingprivateve-
CORONA COUNT
10,815 353
CASES DEATHS
1190 RECOVERED
2,44,893 samples have
been tested as on April 14
INSIDE
INDIA REACHES OUT
TO CHINA FOR 15 MN
SETS OF PPES
NO CONCRETE
STEPS, PM SILENT ON
MIGRANTS: OPPN
PAGES 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10
Captain
writes to PM,
seeks
innovative
solutions
HomeMinistryhadsaid,“...allthe
employers, be it in the industry
or in the shops and commercial
establishments, shall make pay-
ment of wages to their workers,
at their workplace, on the due
date, without any deduction, for
the period their establishments
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
COVID CURVE COULD
FLATTEN ONLY IN
SEPTEMBER, SAYS CM
PAGE 6
member task force has been set
upinMumbaionMondaytofor-
mulate a treatment protocol for
critical patients. Six hospitals
have been designated to treat
critical patients in Mumbai on
Monday.
Of the first 50 deaths
analysed by The Indian Express,
based on data from
Brihanmumbai Municipal
Corporation and Maharashtra
government:
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
filed by the Indian Council of
Medical Research (ICMR), also
said that the PMJAY beneficiar-
iesonlyhadtoproducetheirPM-
JAY cards and identification
numbers, to avail free testing at
private laboratories. But, as per
data on the NHA website on
April 14, just 12.45 crore e-cards
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
hiclepassesfortransportationof
people to Bihar. It is also worth-
while to mention that Kota has
40 confirmed corona cases and,
therefore, such movement from
Kota is not at all advisable in the
presentscenario.InBihar,weare
now medically examining the
returning students as well as the
guardians accompanying them
andinstructionsarebeingissued
to quarantine them. This un-
precedented situation could
have been easily avoided by
strict enforcement of lockdown
in Kota,” the letter said, adding,
CONTINUED ON PAGE 2
 2 THE SECOND PAGE
FROM PAGE ONE
Uddhav
now.Wetooarenothappykeep-
ing you locked in your homes.),”
Thackeray said.
Expressingconcernsoverthe
Bandra incidence, Union Home
Minister Amit Shah too spoke to
UddhavThackeraybeforethelat-
ter addressed the state. “The
HomeMinisterstressedthatsuch
events weaken India’s fight
againstCoronaVirusandadmin-
istration needs to stay vigilant to
avoid such incidents. He also of-
fered his full support to
Maharashtra Government,” a
Ministry of Home Affairs state-
ment said.
ButNGO workersand police-
men on the ground had been
warning the administration that
the migrants had run out of
moneyandhadnoaccesstofood,
and that the government’s relief
distribution was insufficient.
Stranded migrants were waiting
forApril14,expectingarelaxation
inthelockdownandhopingtore-
turn home.
In a series of tweets, Aaditya
Thackeray, Environment and
Tourism Minister, however, took
a swipe at the Centre and said,
“The situation at Bandra or even
theriotinginSuratisaresultofthe
Uniongovernmentnotbeingable
to take a call... They don’t want
food or shelter; but want to be
back home.” He said that a “mu-
tual roadmap set by the Centre
will largely help transport them
from one state to another safely
and efficiently... Chief Minister
Uddhav Thackerayji had even
raised this issue in the PM-CMs
video conference.”
Hours after the Mumbai inci-
dent,DelhiChief MinisterArvind
Kejriwalissuedashortvideomes-
sage requesting migrants from
UttarPradesh,Bihar,Haryanaand
otherstatestostaybackatleasttill
May3,andaskedthemnottofall
for rumours. The Delhi govern-
mentwillmakeallarrangements
in terms of food, medicines, he
said.
“We are here to fulfill all your
needsandaddressdifficulties.We
are arranging food, medicines.
Manypeoplewilltrytospreadru-
mours. Some might claim they
will take you back to your village
inexchangeofmoney.Noonecan
take you home. Some might say
DTCbusesarerunning.Thereare
no DTC buses available. Some
might claim buses of UP govern-
mentareattheborders.Thereare
no buses,” Kejriwal said.
Migrants in few other states
includingGujaratandPunjabtoo
turnedrestlessafterthelockdown
was extended.
A labourer in Panchkula, 18-
year old Usman’s mother passed
awayonMarch30inthemidstof
thethree-weeklockdown.Along
withabout60otherlabourers,he
is now on a hunger strike. “My
family needs me in this period of
mourning. Everybody wants to
leave. When we heard the an-
nouncement...wejustdidnotfeel
like eating,” he said.
The labourers broke the
hungerstrikesoonafteraStation
House Officer, the Assistant
Commissioner of Police and the
Sub-Divisional Magistrate, and
healthofficialsreachedtheshelter
home and spoke to them. “We
havemadethemunderstandthat
they must eat,” said SHO
Inspector Dalip Singh.
In Surat, hundreds of textile
labourerscameoutonthestreets
in a residential neighbourhood
Varachha, complaining of lack of
food and demanding they be al-
lowed to return home. Assuring
that the issue would be resolved,
the police went around request-
ing the migrants not to take law
in their hands.
To contain the situation, the
city police immediately sought
help from an NGO and a tempo
loadedwithcookedfoodwasor-
ganised. Labourers stood in a
queue, maintaining social dis-
tance,andtookfoodintheirown
vessels.Thepoliceofficialsalsoas-
sured food supplies twice a day
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tillthelockdownislifted.Thecops
explained to them that all buses
and other transport facilities had
been halted.
(WITHINPUTSFROM
PALLAVISINGHALIN
PANCHKULAANDKAMAAL
SAIYEDINSURAT)
Angry workers
aswellasYuvaSenaleaderVarun
Sardesai,blamedthegatheringon
rumours about trains being
arranged following reports dur-
ingthedaythatwerebasedonan
internal letter issued by South
Central Railway (SCR).
Maharashtra Home Minister
Anil Deshmukh said an inquiry
hasbeenorderedtofindoutwho
spread the rumour and that
strongactionwillbetakenagainst
the culprits.
A senior Railways official told
TheIndianExpressthattheinter-
nal letter was “genuine but
wronglyworded”.“Nosuchdeci-
sionhasbeentakentorunspecial
trains.Itisonlyaproposal,”theof-
ficial said.
The letter asked divisional
commercial managers to assess
the number of stranded passen-
gers and submit a detailed pro-
posal for further discussion, the
official said.
Policesaidtheworkersstarted
gathering at about 3 pm, and
squattedontheroad.Policepaci-
fied the crowd at first, asking
them to disperse, using a public
announcement system of the
Jama Masjid close to the station.
In Mumbra’s Hashmat Park
circle, too, 300 migrant workers
took to the streets demanding to
besenthome.Thecrowdwasdis-
persedaftera“mildlathicharge”,
police said.
An FIR was registered at
Bandra police station Tuesday
night on charges of rioting and
undersection188oftheIPCforvi-
olatinglockdown orders andun-
dersection3oftheEpidemicAct,
against “800-1,000 unknown
persons”.
“We heard that the govern-
ment will make provisions for
peopletogohomebyrelaxingthe
lockdownforafewdays.Myfam-
ilymembersareworriedsincethe
number of cases here is increas-
ing. Also, we don’t get food every
day. We do not have enough
money to spend if we fall ill. We
feel we will be better off in our
homes,”said23-year-oldShakun
Mondal, a resident of Malda in
West Bengal, who lives in
Behrampada in Bandra (east).
“Wehaveinitiatedthreecom-
munity kitchens and have been
distributing ration to thousands
of families since the lockdown
was announced. But many say
that since they are unable to fol-
lowsocial-distancingheredueto
thesmallsizeof theirhomesand
use of bathrooms, they were
seeking arrangements to go
home,” said the area MLA
Zeeshan Siddiqui.
Mumbai deaths,
■ 14 patients died within
hours of hospital admission.
■26deathshappenedwithin
a day of admission.
■ In 11 cases the test result
came positive after death, in 14
cases it came positive barely
hours before death.
■ 39 were men and 11
women.
Experts and officials point to
severalreasonsthatcouldexplain
this: some had to do the rounds
of severalprivateandpublichos-
pitalsbeforetheywerefinallyad-
mitted, not all cough and cold
cases were immediately tested,
and several patients opted for
hometreatmentuntiltheirhealth
worsened.
“We noticed patientswait for
3-4 days after developing symp-
toms and try to hide suspected
Covid infection due to fear of be-
ing stigmatised before they ap-
proachahealthcarefacility,”said
SureshKakani,additionalmunic-
ipal commissioner, BMC.
Daksha, Shah, BMC’s deputy
executive health officer, said 85
EXCLUSIVE
WEB
VIDEO OF THE DAY
Chosen the correct path, says Modi
whichtheregionhasprotected
itself from coronavirus will be
noted,” Modi said.
“Areas that will succeed in
this litmus test, which will not
be in the hotspot category, and
willhavelesslikelihoodtoturn
into a hotspot, may be allowed
toopen upselect necessaryac-
tivities from 20th April.
However, keep in mind, this
permissionwillbeconditional,
and the rules for going out will
be very strict.
Permission will be with-
drawn immediately if lock-
down rules are broken, and
spread of coronavirus risked,”
he said, adding that the gov-
ernment will issue guidelines
Wednesday in this regard.
Hours after the Prime
Minister’s address, the
National Disaster
Management Authority
(NDMA), in an order, said that
guidelines for the fresh lock-
down would remain the same
as issued on March 24 and
modified subsequently on
multiple occasions.
It, however, left scope for
relaxation, saying these guide-
lines could be modified when-
ever necessary.
“NDMA after assessing the
situation on COVID-19 epi-
demicissatisfied thatstrict so-
cial distancing measures need
to be implemented for a fur-
ther period so as to effectively
containthespread...NDMAhas
Over 1,400 new cases recorded in 24 hours
total cases so far.
The worst hit are
Maharashtra (2,337 cases) and
Delhi (1,510 cases), which to-
gether account for over 35 per
cent of the total national tally.
They are followed by Tamil
Nadu (1,173 cases) and
Rajasthan (879 cases).
For the first time, the num-
ber of daily tests has crossed
20,000, with 26,351 samples
being tested in the last 24
hours. The total number of
samples tested so far is
2,44,893.
At the daily briefing, Joint
Secretary, Health Ministry, Lav
AgarwalsaidthatafterApril20,
a “litmus test” would decide
whether restrictions can be
percentof thedeceasedalsohad
hypertension,heartdisease,ordi-
abetes. “These patients deterio-
ratequicklybythetimetheyreach
our hospital. Worldwide data
shows patients’ lungs sink very
fast, and the heart is also affected
by coronavirus,” she said.
The Indian Express, however,
cameacrosscaseswherepatients
were also forced to visit multiple
hospitals from the time they de-
velopedcoughtilltheydiedlead-
ing to treatment and testing de-
lay.Anillustrativecaseisthatof a
27-year-old pregnant woman
whovisitedfourhospitalsbefore
she died in Nair hospital on April
4,thesonofa67-year-oldpatient
visited five hospitals before KEM
agreedtoadmithisfather.Twelve
hours later, the patient died.
Mumbai has 14 private and pub-
lic testing centres.
Dr Tanu Singhal, infectious
disease expert in Kokilaben
DhirubhaiAmbanihospital,saidit
takes five to six days after devel-
oping symptoms for a person to
feelfatigue,experiencelowsatu-
ration levels, and suffer a drop in
oxygen levels. “Patients deterio-
ratequicklyafterthat.Thetesting
strategy is lopsided. We have to
test patients with fever and
cough,andtestthemearlytopro-
videinterventionbeforetheyslip
intocriticalstage.Ouraimistoul-
timately save lives,” she said.
In KEM hospital, 13 deaths
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
CORONAVIRUS LOCKDOWN EXTENDED TILL MAY 3: ALL YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Ina25-minuteaddresstothenation,PMModisaidthesecondphaseofthelockdownwouldseemore
strictermeasures
MIGRANTS WORKERS
STUCK IN GOA
No money, no food,
migrant workers in Goa
looking at debt-trap
issued an order... directing the
Chairperson, National
Executive Committee that ex-
isting lockdown measures be
continued to be implemented
in all parts of the country, up to
03.05.2020,” the order stated.
Tuning the response to the
pandemic, the Prime Minister
set out two broad metrics - no
expansiontogreenerareasand
no proliferation of hotspots in
existing areas.
“We must not let coron-
avirus spread to new areas at
any cost. A single new patient
at even the smallest local level
should be a matter of concern
for us. The tragic death of even
a single patient from coron-
avirusshouldincreaseourcon-
cernevenfurther,”wasthefirst
metric he highlighted.
He then followed it with a
call to be “vigilant about
hotspots”. “We will have to
keep a close and strict watch
on the places which run the
risk of becoming hotspots. The
creation of new hotspots will
further challenge our hard
work and penance,” he said.
In his address, the Prime
Minister did not mention any
economic package or plan —
states have been urging the
Centretotakemeasurestotide
over the economic gloom.
But he did underline the
provision of “limited exemp-
tion” in identified areas after
April 20 “keeping in mind the
eased in some districts, but
warnedthatthedecisioncould
berevokedincaseof violations.
Asked about the rationale
behind a cumulative 40-day
lockdown, he said: “The major
effort is to break the chain of
transmission. That is why we
follow up for 28 days, and use
that as the benchmark for de-
ciding whether that has hap-
penedinaparticulararea;that
iswhywearepromotingsocial
distancing with lockdown.”
Dr R R Gangakhedkar, head
of epidemiologyandinfectious
diseases at ICMR, sought to al-
lay concerns over his com-
ments on Monday that India
has enough testing kits for six
weeks.“Wehavesincethenre-
have been recorded between
April 3 to April 12. Dean Dr
Hemant Deshmukh said, “Most
cases are of senior citizens with
co-morbidity, they coming to us
in critical condition and there is
little scope left to save them.”
Ofthefirst50deaths,42were
aged above 50 years and 85 per
cent had comorbidity. Experts
said these people come in high
risk group and must be tested
early.
BMC officials said they were
following the Indian Council of
MedicalResearchguidelinesthat
allowed testing only for four cat-
egories until April first week:
symptomatic people with travel
history,peoplewithsevereacute
respiratorydistress,healthwork-
ers, and close contacts of con-
firmedcases.Kakanisaidtheyre-
alised“theyweremissingseveral
from the net” and decided to
broaden the testing criteria in
Mumbai. “We now test every
high risk person who comes un-
deracontainmentzone.Thiswill
include elderly with co-morbid-
ity,” he said.
Maharashtra epidemiologist
DrPradeepAwatesayswhiletest-
ingisimportant,hedisagreesthat
testingearlierwillhelpsavelives.
“Even if we test, it makes no dif-
ference in treatment protocol as
COVID-19 has no known treat-
ment, only symptomatic care.”
ButAwatealsosaidthatifpri-
LIFESTYLE
livelihood of our poor brothers
and sisters”.
“Those who earn daily,
make ends meet with daily in-
come, they are my family. One
of my topmost priorities is to
reduce the difficulties in their
lives. The government has
made every possible effort to
help them through Pradhan
Mantri Gareeb Kalyan Yojna.
Their interests have also been
takencare of while making the
new guidelines. These days,
the harvesting of the Rabi crop
is also in progress. The central
and state governments are
working together to minimize
the problems of the farmers,”
he said.
The country, he said, has
“ample reserves of medicines,
food-rationandotheressential
goods; and supply chain con-
straintsarecontinuouslybeing
removed”.
“We will issue detailed
guidelines tomorrow. We are
making attempts so that farm-
ers, poor people are least af-
fected. If we have patience, we
willdefeatthecoronavirus,”he
said.
The Prime Minister re-
ferred to countries badly hit by
the virus: “Corona cases in
those countries are 25 to 30
times than that of India.
Thousands of people have
tragically died in those coun-
tries. Had India not adopted a
holistic and integrated ap-
ceived more kits that will last
usforaverylongtime.Wehave
alsoordered33lakhRTPCRkits
and 37 lakh rapid test kits,” he
said. The first consignment of
rapid test kits is “expected any
time now,” he said.
There are now 602 dedi-
catedCOVID-19hospitalswith
1,06,719 isolation beds and
12,022 ICU beds.
The office of the principal
scientific advisor to the
Governmentof Indiahaslisted
guidelines for densely popu-
lated areas, like Dharavi in
Mumbai, which includes in-
stallation of foot-operated
hand-washingstationsanddos
anddon’ts for useof publictoi-
lets like not spitting or sneez-
vate hospitals started admitting
andtreatingcoughandcoldcases
early,severaldeathscouldbepre-
vented. “Government hospitals
are already overburdened and
havetofollowtriagetoadmitand
testonlyhighriskgroup,”hesaid.
In Japan, government is asking
younger asymptomatic popula-
tion to remain at home and test-
ing senior citizens with co-mor-
bidities to provide early
treatment. Awate said that this
model could be helpful for India.
“But we need support from pri-
vate hospitals for that.”
Dr Om Srivastava, infectious
disease expert in Jaslok hospital
who is part of death audit com-
mittee,said,“Itisalsotheimmune
response that is killing patients.
We are not seeing a uniform pat-
ternindeaths.Therearepeopleof
same age group with same co-
morbidity who are reacting dif-
ferently to the virus,” he said.
Amarinder
areunderclosureduringthelock-
down.”
Amarindersaidthatthis“part
of the order” needs reconsidera-
tionas“thiswillhavehugefinan-
cial implications for industry as
wellasshopsandcommerciales-
tablishmentsinthestateandmay
push them to bankruptcy as the
incomeofmostoftheseunitshas
completely stopped due to lock-
down”.
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2020
WEDDINGS IN THE TIME
OF COVID-19
Couples , have had to hit
the pause button after
months of planning
proach, taking quick and deci-
sive action, the situation in
India today would have been
completely different.”
Echoing what he said ear-
lier-Jaanhaitojahanhai(there
is a world only if there is life) -
Modi made clear that eco-
nomic costs could not be as
grave as loss of life. “From an
economic only point of view, it
undoubtedly looks costly right
now,butmeasured againstthe
lives of Indian citizens, there is
no comparison itself. The path
thatIndiahas taken within our
limited resources has become
a topic of discussion in the en-
tire world today,” he said.
Heacknowledgedthework
donebythestategovernments
and local bodies in tackling the
outbreak and said there was
consensus between the state
governments and the Centre
on extending the lockdown.
Acknowledging the hard-
shipsfaced bythe public, Modi
said it was also reflective of the
willof “we,thepeopleof India”
to face the adversity posed by
this pandemic.
“This display of our collec-
tive strength, by us, the people
of India,isatruetributetoBaba
Saheb Doctor Bhim Rao
Ambedkar, on his birth an-
niversary. Baba Saheb’s life in-
spires us to combat each chal-
lenge with determination and
hard work”.
ing inside and avoiding over-
crowding.
The guidelines specify that
“all patients in the community
with ILI (influenza-like illness)
symptoms such as fever, chills,
drycough,runningnose(must)
immediately report to the
nearest ASHA/ anganwadi/
frontline worker.”
TheHealthMinistryalsois-
sued guidelines, including on
maternal, newborn and child
health, prevention and man-
agementof communicabledis-
eases, treatment for chronic
diseases to avoid complica-
tions,andaddressingemergen-
cies.Itaskedstatestoropeinei-
thertheprivatesectororNGOs
for the purpose.
Ahmedabad
Dr Rathod said, “It is a decision of
the government and you can ask
them.”
As per hospitalisation proto-
col, a suspected COVID-19 case is
kept in a separate ward from
those confirmed, as long as the
testresultsarepending.Asmany
as150ofthe186peopleadmitted
inthehospitalforcoronavirusare
positive. According to sources in
thehospital,atleast40of the150
are Muslims.
Deputy CM Patel told The
IndianExpress,“Iamnotawareof
such a decision (on wards as per
faith). Generally, there are sepa-
ratewardsformalesandfemales.
I will enquire about it.”
Ahmedabad Collector K K
Niralaalsodeniedanyknowledge
of thematter.“Therehasbeenno
such instruction from our side
andwearenotawareof anysuch
government decision,” Nirala
added.
A new block of the
Ahmedabad Civil Hospital was
designatedaCOVID-19centrefor
the Ahmedabad-Gandhinagar
zone in the last week of March.
When contacted, a patient
told The Indian Express: “On
Sunday night, the names of 28
menadmittedinthefirstward(A-
4)werecalledout.Wewerethen
shifted to another ward (C-4).
While we were not told why we
werebeingshifted,allthenames
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Still stuck: Migrant
workers, farmers and
truck drivers
NEWEPISODEEVERYDAY
Today on 3 Things, we look at how the
extended lockdown will impact migrant
workers, farmers and truck drivers.
that were called out belonged to
onecommunity.Wespoketoone
staff member in our ward today
andhesaidthishadbeendonefor
‘the comfort of both communi-
ties’.”
Kota students
“...Also, the District Magistrate,
Kota,shouldbewarnedforviolat-
ing the guidelines issued by the
MHA for movement of people in
the country.”
Kota Additional District
Collector (administration)
Narendra Gupta said the process
of issuing passes to students and
their guardians to facilitate their
safe passage home had started
right after the state government
announcedalockdownonMarch
21, four days before the nation-
wide lockdown came into effect.
“Insomecases,guardiansofthese
students came to Kota to take
thembackhomeandpasseswere
issuedtothemaswell.Atpresent,
we are unable to provide the
numberofstudentswhowereis-
sued the passes. However, we
have stopped issuing the passes
from yesterday and are waiting
forfurtherdirections,”hetoldThe
Indian Express.
A spokesperson for Allen
coaching centre, one of the
biggestinthetownwhose15,000
studentshavebeentryingtoleave
the town and go home, said “it
willbeverytoughtokeepthestu-
dents in Kota”.
“They are all between 15-18
years of age... Unke saath zabar-
dasti nahi kar sakte (You can’t
forcethem).Wehavebeentrying
to provide them with food but
withclassesover,andexamspost-
poned, they have not much to do
here,” he says. The institute re-
ceived500applicationsforpasses
in two days.
At Sangam Kumar’s hostel,
about 15 boys are sharing the
threesmartphonesthatthegroup
has to track the news daily. “I got
my brother in Bihar to recharge
my phone. I now have 2 GB data.
We watch news and videos re-
lated to COVID-19 for sometime
every day. Other than that, I have
been studying for 12-15 hours.
There are no classes now and so
we don’t know how to get our
doubts clarified. Food is not a
problem,butIamtoldthatalotof
messes are also shutting down.
Please get us out of here,” he said
on the phone.
—INPUTSFROMSANTOSH
SINGH,PATNA
NIA arrests
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi — the
siblingsaregrandchildrenofDrB
R Ambedkar. Incidentally,
Tuesday marked Dr Ambedkar’s
129th birth anniversary.
Navlakha surrendered at the
NIA headquarters in Delhi and
will be produced before a special
court Wednesday. He may be
brought to Mumbai if the NIA
seeks a transit remand.
On Monday, Teltumbde had
writtenanopenletter,statingthat
hehasan“unblemishedrecordof
service for nearly five decades to
this country” in various roles in-
cludinginthecorporateworld,as
a teacher, civil rights activist and
a public intellectual.
He claimed in the letter that
he was illegally arrested by Pune
Police while still under the pro-
tectionoftheSupremeCourtand
thathishouseinthefacultyhous-
ing complex of the Goa Institute
ofManagementraidedinAugust
2018 while he and his wife were
in Mumbai.
Teltumbde wrote that “dra-
conian legislations” like the
Unlawful Activities (Prevention)
Act, under which he has been
booked, “denude innocent peo-
ple of their liberties”.
The NIA has alleged that the
ElgarParishadeventinShaniwar
Wada in Pune on December 31,
2017,ledtotheviolenceinBhima
Koregaon the day after.
Lastweek,theSupremecourt
refusedtograntextensionoftime
for Teltumbde and Navlakha to
surrender.Thecourthaddirected
themtosurrenderwithinaweek.
On Tuesday, citing the NIA’s
investigation, Special Public
Prosecutor Prakash Shetty told
the courtin Mumbai that the call
detailrecordsofTeltumbde’smo-
bileallegedlyshowedthathewas
in contact with the arrested ac-
cused during the “relevant pe-
riod” and present at the place of
offence.
The remand application also
claimed that Teltumbde was the
convenor of the Elgar Parishad
programme and alleged that he
hadreceivedfundsfromthecen-
tralcommitteeoftheCPI(Maoist),
the banned organisation.
The NIA alleged that the ac-
cused “promoted enmity be-
tween the caste groups and lead
toviolenceresultinginlossof life
and statewide agitation”.
Teltumbde informed the
court, through his lawyer Arif
Siddiqui, that he had cooperated
withtheNIA,andgivenhisstate-
ment twice to Pune Police when
summoned. He said he was un-
der the interim protection of
courtssofarandhadsurrendered
dulyfollowingtheapexcourt’sor-
der. He also said that he was un-
well with illnesses, including
asthma and chronic spondylitis.
Free pvt testing
have been issued under the PM-
JAY — the government’s data of
10.74crorefamiliestranslatesinto
at least 50 crore people, as per its
own affidavit in court.
Sources attributed this to
problems with the SECC 2011,
which is nearly a decade old.
Againstatargetof identifying
at least 47.28 crore PMJAY bene-
ficiaries through it, the figure
stands at only 3.83 crore (8%). So,
ofthe12.45crorePMJAYbenefici-
ariesholdinge-cards,theremain-
ing have been identified through
othermeans—4.68crorethrough
schemes run by states; about 65
lakh from the existing Rashtriya
Swasthya Bima Yojana; 1.4 crore
from the SAMAGRA portal of
Madhya Pradesh; as well as sev-
eral other databases.
AspertheNHA’sownadmis-
sion in an internal note, over two
crore families are missing from
the SECC.
“Almost all states have re-
ported that several genuinely
poor and vulnerable households
have been excluded from the
scheme because the SECC data is
old,” the note says. “No state has
been able to identify more than
75 per cent of households from
SECC. Excluding the states
(which) have not joined, more
than2crorehouseholdsaremiss-
ing. Some states have reported
that many villages and some
groups have been systematically
left out. The NHA has been rou-
tinely receiving letters from vari-
ous states e.g. Goa, Chandigarh,
North Eastern states etc. regard-
ing their unfair exclusion due to
erroneous database.”
The only states that are not
implementing the PMJAY are
West Bengal, Odisha and
Telangana, while Delhi has an-
nounced it will do so.
Sources said that Uttar
Pradeshhasbeenabletoidentify
only 89.66 lakh PMJAY benefici-
ariesofatargetof6.47crore(14%)
givenintheSECCdatabase.Bihar
has identified only 53.28 lakh of
5.55crore(10%),andChhattisgarh
8.35 lakh of 1.52 crore (5%).
SaystheNHAnote,“Thereare
large number of mismatches in
dependents’ information in the
family, different families have
beenclubbedaspartof thesame
family (in one case, more than
200membersinonefamily),and
incorrect names have been cap-
tured.Inaddition,thereareabout
2percenthouseholdIDswithno
entries (more than 20 lakh fami-
lies).” Launched in September
2018, the PMJAY aims to provide
healthcoverofRs5lakhperfam-
ilyperyearforsecondaryandter-
tiary care hospitalization.
FULLREPORTON
www.indianexpress.com

3 THE OUTBREAK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2020
ISOLATED AT HOME
Sub-Inspector Mahesh Chaudhary, the chowki-in-charge at Jhundpura, having lunch in isolation from his family at his residence in Noida Extension on
Tuesday, while his son looks on. Gajendra Yadav
CORONA
WATCH
In Noida,
Uber to offer
ambulance
services
Noida: The Noida admin-
istration has tied up with
Uber to provide ambu-
lance services in hotspots.
According to officials,
Uber will be part of non-
COVID-19 medical serv-
ices. A helpline number
for both COVID-19 and
non- COVID-19 medical
ambulances was also
launched by the adminis-
tration. One person also
tested positive in Noida
Tuesday, taking the total
cases to 80. A 72-year-old
woman also tested posi-
tiveinHaryana’sFaridabad
district Tuesday, bringing
the total cases in the dis-
trict to 33.
Police chief
issues
advisory to
personnel
New Delhi: Delhi Police
chief S N Shrivastava
Tuesdayaskedtheforceto
be cautious and maintain
social distancing while
performingtheirduties.In
an audio message, he ap-
preciated them for doing
their job in a systematic
manner. Shrivastava said
five personnel and two
family members of police
officers have tested posi-
tive for COVID-19, while
168personneland12fam-
ily members have been
quarantined, which is a
causeofworry.Policehave
alsoidentified57locations
to accommodate person-
nelondutyinsensitivear-
eas. An order to this effect
was issued by Special CP
(Armed Police) to all dis-
trict DCPs, Special CPs and
Joint CPs.
Hospital staff
move HC
NewDelhi:Fiveemployees
ofStStephen’sHospitalap-
proached the Delhi High
Court against the insti-
tute’s decision to sack
them from its Gurgaon
branch.Theissuecameup
for hearing before Justice
Rekha Palli, before whom
the hospital management
agreedtopaytheemploy-
ees an amount equal to
their salary for March and
April. ENS
CM says additional burden of cases
from foreign travel, Markaz event
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14
DELHI CHIEF Minister Arvind
Kejriwal Tuesday attributed
Delhi’s high patient load, in part,
to people returning to the coun-
try after international travel
and cases reported from the
Nizamuddin Markaz.
“Overthepastfewdays,Delhi
has seen a sudden spike in the
number of cases, and as a Chief
Minister, it is worrisome for me.
Delhi, being the national capital,
has had an additional burden of
cases from people who came
from abroad. Many other places,
such as Mumbai and Kolkata,
havealsoseenmanypeoplecome
in but the number is highest in
Delhi.ThecasesfromtheMarkaz
are an additional burden as well.
This is the reason cases are high.
In this migrant base, the
refrain: Lockdown is
needed but what about us?
ANAND MOHAN J
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14
IN A one-room house in
SoutheastDelhi’sOkhlaIndustrial
Area, a smartphone propped up
onasmallcylinderdoublesupas
a television. The audience is a
family of labourers, watching an
episodeofMahabharatawithrapt
attention.
After it ends, they talk about
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
announcement to extend the
lockdown until May 3. Though
there is support for the PM’s de-
cision, and an appreciation for
the fact that he acknowledged
them in his address, there is also
dismay that no specific plan of
action was discussed to make
their lives easier. The labourers,
whoworkedinexportlines,mo-
tor companies, medicine and
cosmeticunitsdottingtheindus-
trial area, are unemployed and
— without ration cards — unable
toprocurefoodfromlocalstores.
Daya Ram, who worked in a
cosmeticfactoryandwaspaidRs
6,000 a month, has to think of a
familyof 10.“Nooneisdelivering
rationhere.Willthischangeafter
PM’s speech? I hope it does.
Khichdi kha ke thak gaya hun.”
The family lines up at a local
school twice adayfor food being
provided to stranded migrants.
At Sanjay Colony nearby,
Naseem (30), who worked as a
helper in a mat-making factory,
waitedforoverfourhoursforthe
DJBwatertanker.Assoonasitar-
rived, labourers made a beeline
towards it. With lack of drinking
water in the area, this is their
only source of clean water.
“Modi ji called us his soldiers
on the ground, I am thankful for
that. He also asked us to drink
warm water. But if the authori-
At Tuesday’s press briefing
But we can work together and
rectify this,” said Kejriwal.
As of Tuesday, Delhi has
1,561 cases. Of these, 1,080 were
those who had either attended
the Markaz gathering or had
come in contact with someone
who did.
TheDelhigovernmenthasal-
ready declared 47 areas in the
city as containment zones. It
addedeightmorezonesTuesday
— seven in the West district and
At Okhla Industrial Area on Tuesday. Renuka Puri
ties could supply drinking water
fortheentireday,wecan remain
healthy,” he said.
Labourersstayingaroundthe
industrial area live in houses
painted in bright colours of yel-
low, green and blue stacked atop
each other. Some houses are
crammed inside alleys where no
sunlight reaches. Almost no one
has masks or gloves, many have
run out of soap. There is anxiety
overdwindlingration,withmany
familieshavingjustenoughtosee
themthroughthe nexttwodays.
Manoj (26), who worked as a
driver in an export factory and
earned Rs 7,000 a month, stays
with 10 members of his family
in a one-room house that only
has space for a kitchen. “Thoda
pehle bol dete lockdown badhne
wala hai,” he said.
There is also anger at the po-
lice for not letting anyone leave
their homes to get supplies as
volunteers seldom venture into
this area to distribute food. The
alleys have also been barricaded
by parked trucks.
DrAnimeshDas,presidentof
IFTU,atradeunioninOkhla,said,
one in Northeast district. While
some of these are spread over a
larger area, most include a street
or a cluster of houses.
According to Kejriwal, any
area that sees more than three
caseswillbesealedanddeclared
acontainmentzone:“Incontain-
ment areas, the streets are sani-
tised and Operation SHIELD —
which includes sealing an area,
sanitising it and carrying out
large-scalescreeningof residents
— is started. So far, 60 machines
are being used to sanitise Delhi.
Of these, 10 have come from
Japan. I will visit one contain-
ment zone tomorrow, to see if
peoplearegettingessentialserv-
ices. We also have a team of
14,000footsoldiers—ourcorona
warriors — who will ensure sur-
veillance and isolation in these
areas. I know a lot of you are fac-
ing hardship but if we stand to-
“There are various problems be-
ingfacedbylabourersinthearea
— their payment is stuck; ration
isbeinggivenonlytoration-card
holders; they do not have masks
which are now mandatory; and
thereisafearof nothavingjobs.”
The fear of job losses is felt
most by labourers involved in
loading and packaging work at
variousunits—apartoftheinfor-
mal sector at the industrial hub.
Sunil Kumar (45), a father of
three, said his job involved back-
breaking unloading work at a
motorcompany.Hehasnotbeen
paid last month’s wages of Rs
3,000. “I am not on the official
payroll...otherpeopleweregiven
their wages by the owner. I don’t
think I will have a job when all
this is over,” said Kumar.
The only factory that is oper-
ational is a grocery unit. The
owner, Vishnu, sources supplies
fromGurgaonandhasemployed
astaff of around30deliverymen.
“It is difficult to make deliveries
because of barricading in the
area. But the supply chain must
not be disrupted here, else peo-
ple will starve,” he said.
gether, we can defeat this.”
Kejriwal also appealed to
people not to spread communal
hate in the wake of the crisis. On
Tuesday,Policehadarrestedtwo
shop owners for allegedly abus-
ingtwowomenbuyinggroceries
on the basis of their religion.
“Overthepastfewweeks,we
have seen the fallout when peo-
ple defy the laws of nature.
Spreading hate is against nature
and people who do this violate
the rules of nature, Ishwar and
Allah. I am saddened that people
arestill tryingtospreadcommu-
nal hate. Social media is full of
suchpostsandvideosthatintend
to ignite communal hatred be-
tweenHindusandMuslims.This
is against nature. The nation will
progressonlyifweworktogether.
Thosespreadingcommunalhate
aretraitorsofthenationandwork
against God,” said Kejriwal.
Oxygen level
in Yamuna up
at 3 locations
New Delhi: The amount of dis-
solved oxygen (DO) in the
Yamuna below the Wazirabad
barrage in Delhi has risen above
theprescribedstandard,asperan
assessmentbytheDelhiJalBoard.
DO is an indicator of water qual-
ity and should be at least 5 mg/l
ormoreinwaterusedforbathing.
The DJB tested samples from
five locations last week between
Wazirabad barrage and Okhla —
which accounts for a major
share of pollution of the river. A
declining trend was recorded in
the concentration of pollutants
between the two locations,
which a senior DJB official cred-
ited to a pause on the flow of in-
dustrial effluents and higher
share of freshwater being re-
leased into the river below
Wazirabad barrage.
At the five locations, the DO
was ‘not detectable’ near Majnu
Ka Tila and Shastri Park Bridge,
but it was 5.6mg/l near Geeta
Colony Bridge; 3.6 mg/l at
Nizamuddin bridge; and 5.2
mg/l near Okhla Barrage. ENS
Delhi Jal Board says
pollutants in the river have
decreased. Abhinav Saha
The City
Half of Delhi’s deaths
reported in last 4 days
ASTHA SAXENA
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14
OF THE 30 deaths due to COVID-
19inthelastonemonthinDelhi,
50% were reported in the past
four days. With 1,561 cases until
Tuesday night, the capital is sec-
ond only to Maharashtra, which
had reported 2,684 cases in the
same duration.
Among the total cases in
Delhi until Tuesday evening,
1,080 — nearly 70% — are those
who had attended a Tablighi
Jamaat gathering at Markaz
Nizamuddin last month.
Of the 28 deaths till Monday,
four people had attended the
event — three men from Tamil
Nadu aged 64, 68 and 70, and a
38-year-old man from Kyrgyz
Republic. While two were ad-
mitted to Lok Nayak Hospital,
two had been taken to AIIMS,
Jhajjar.Of thesevictims,fivepeo-
ple are in the 70-80 age group;
10 in the 60-70 age group; eight
in the 50-60 age group; and the
rest are under 50 years of age.
“So far, we haven’t seen any
death in which there was no co-
morbidity whatsoever. Most of
the people who succumbed al-
ready had a weak immune sys-
temduetoprolongedillness.The
youngest victim is the 38-year-
old man from Kyrgyz Republic.
He had pulmonary TB,” said a
senior official from Delhi's de-
partment of health.
The co-morbidities include
uncontrolleddiabetes,hyperten-
51 cases, 2 deaths;
Delhi govt to carry
out 20,000 tests
ASTHA SAXENA
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14
TO ENSURE timely containment
of COVID-19 cases in the capital,
20,000rRT-PCRtestswillbeper-
formed in the next five days on a
war-footing at areas under sur-
veillanceandfor patientsadmit-
ted at designated Delhi govern-
ment hospitals and quarantine
centres.
The city also reported 51
freshcases,takingthetotalcases
to 1,561. The death toll touched
30 with two more casualties be-
ing reported. Of the new cases,
23 are under investigation, 19
have a travel history/local trans-
mission and nine are under the
‘special operations’ category —
those who attended an event at
Nizammudin Markaz.
Accordingtoaseniorgovern-
ment official, eight authorised
privatelabsacrossthe11districts
will step in to take the load off
over-burdened labs in govern-
ment hospitals. "The next five
daysareextremelycrucialforthe
entire country. The eight desig-
nated labs have a capacity of
testing 2,000 samples a day,
which will be a huge support
and improve pendency of cases.
The rates have been decided on
the basis of samples and testing
kits; every lab and hospital will
follow the same."
The eight labs are Dr Lal
PathLabs for North, Northeast
and Northwest districts; Sir
Ganga Ram Hospital Clinical Lab
Services in the Central district;
Oncquest Lab for New Delhi dis-
trict; Dr Dangs Lab for South dis-
trict; Laboratory Services
Indraprastha Apollo Hospital for
Southeast; Max Lab, Max Super
Specialty Hospital, Saket, for
East and Shahdara; Prognosis
Laboratories for Southwest; and
City X-Ray & Scan Clinic Pvt. Ltd.
for West district.
SCALING UP
1,051 2,873 (April5)
Averagedaily Highestnumber
tests oftestsinaday
20,000
■ Cumulativetesting
figuresinDelhi
15,000
10,000
5,000
0 ercise more interactive, teach-
April1
April2
April3
April4
April5
April6
April7
April8
April9
April10
April11
April12
April13
April14
New Delhi
COVID-19 DEATHS IN DELHI
28 Totaldeaths
20 FromDelhi
3 FromTamilNadu
OnefromRohtak,Firozabad,Bulandshahr,
YemenandtheKyrgyzRepublic
21 MEN AND 7 WOMEN
sion, respiratory infection, heart
disease, kidney disease and hae-
matemesis.Ofthe28victims,two
are from outside the country —
Yemen and Kyrgyz Republic —
and six from other states.
The maximum number of
deaths — 10 — have been re-
ported from the Central district,
which includes congested areas
such as Darya Ganj, Sadar Bazar,
Delhi Gate, Turkman Gate and
Karol Bagh. The district is under
scrutiny and officials have al-
ready added three areas — Sadar
Bazar, Nabi Karim, and Chandni
Mahal — to the list of contain-
CORONA COUNT
DELHI NCR
1,733
CASES
30
DEATHS
87 RECOVERED
If samples collected is more
than the combined capacity of
government labs, samples from
COVID-19 designated Delhi gov-
ernment hospitals/quarantine
centres shall be sent to private
labs as per their allocated desig-
nated areas/regions.
If samples are taken at a pri-
vate lab and it also provides the
testing kits, then the amount
payable would be Rs 4,500.
Similarly, if samples are taken at
a government hospital and kits
are also provided by the hospi-
tal, then the charges have been
fixed at Rs 2,200. However, if
samples are taken at a govern-
ment hospital and the kits are
provided by the private lab, then
the amount would be Rs 3,500.
As per new guidelines from
the Union Ministry of Health for
hotspots/clustersandinlargemi-
grationgatherings/evacueescen-
tres,allthosesymptomaticforin-
fluenza-likeillness(fever,cough,
sore throat, runny nose) should
goforrRT-PCRwithinsevendays
of illness and an antibody test (if
negative,confirmedbyrRT-PCR)
after seven days of illness.
Meanwhile, two women
doctors from RML Hospital have
tested positive, the administra-
tion said Tuesday. A resident
doctoratLadyHardingeMedical
College also tested positive.
A spokesperson for RML hos-
pitalsaidcontacttracingisunder-
way and 50 staff members have
been quarantined. “We don’t
knowhowthedoctorscontracted
theinfection,”saidthespokesper-
son.Atotalof54healthcarework-
ers have tested positive.
153 (April3)
Lowestnumber
oftestsinaday
16,282
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
Amit Mehra
Age Deaths
30-40 1
40-50 4
50-60 8
60-70 10
70-80 5
Figures till Monday
ment zones, where all move-
ment has been barred.
“Three deaths have been re-
ported from Sadar Bazar and we
are tracing the contacts of all
family members. Three deaths
each have also been reported
fromtheEastandNorthdistricts.
Two people each have died from
the Southeast and West dis-
tricts,” said a health official.
The city had reported its first
COVID-19deathonMarch13,af-
ter a 68-year-old woman from
West Delhi, who also had dia-
betes and hypertension, died at
RML Hospital.
Three civic
bodies hope
to teach on
WhatsApp
ABHINAV RAJPUT
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14
SCHOOLSUNDERtheEast,South
andNorthMCDshavestartedon-
line classes for children, under
which study material is being
sharedbyteachersviaWhatsApp
groups.However,seniorofficials
engagedinexecutingtheproject
face a tough task.
Whiletheresponsefromstu-
dents has been encouraging, of-
ficialsarestrugglingtobridgethe
digitalgap—manyparentsdonot
own phones with internet con-
nection; some don’t know to use
WhatsApp;othershavejobsthat
don’t let them work from home.
MCD schools have children,
mostly from poor families,
studying in classes I to V. The
EDMC has 365 schools with
more than 1.75 lakh children,
North civic body has 714 schools
with around 3.5 lakh students
while South has 581 schools
with 2.5 lakh children.
EDMC Commissioner Alka
Sharma said WhatsApp groups
havebeencreatedforchildrenin
each section: “The group admin
istheclassteacher,whogivesas-
signments as well as feedback.”
AseniorofficialwiththeSouth
MCDsaid,“Morethan50%ofpar-
ents do not have smartphones.
Many of them are daily wagers,
working as staff in hospitals, en-
gaged in essential services like
selling vegetables, as helpers or
driversoftrucksandassanitation
workers.” The official also added
thatmanydailywagersandwork-
ers,whosechildrenwereenrolled
in the schools, have gone back to
theirvillagesamidthelockdown.
A teacher at an EDMC school
also pointed to other problems:
“Whileitiseasytogivestudyma-
terial or guidance, all these can-
not be checked properly on
WhatsApp.” Another teacher
said not every subject can be
taught online, like Math and
English.Fornow,onlineteaching
involves giving assignments like
drawing, writing an essay and
simple math calculations.
Director (Education) of the
NorthbodyVedithaReddysaidin
caseswherestudentsdonotown
smartphones, they would be
givenworksheetsatMCDschools:
“Several parents come to these
schools,nowfunctioningasrelief
camps,forfoodandsupplies.They
cansubmittheworksheetsthen.”
Reddy said to make the ex-
ers send audio messages to chil-
dren highlighting improvement
areas.
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

4 THE OUTBREAK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2020

The City

Doctor returning from AFTER BANDRA PROTEST

work dead in hit-and-run To ensure Delhi doesn’t go Mumbai

EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14

A DOCTOR on COVID-19 duty

died in South Delhi's Saket on
Monday after he was allegedly
hit by a car while he was riding
his bicycle, police said.
The victim, J P Yadav (53),
was returning to his home at
Greater Kailash when a car hit
him and fled.
Yadav was in charge of the
SDMCpolyclinicinMehrauliand
was also appointed as the
COVID-19 nodal officer from the
South zone, police said. A senior
police officer said, "We were in-
formed by Max Hospital about
the accident around 6:30 pm.
Yadav was rushed to hospital by
his colleagues who were nearby,
but he died during treatment.
Duringenquiry,wefoundhehad
left his clinic around 3:30 pm. "
Dr J P Yadav was 53
Police sources said the doc-
tor had a car, but it broke down a
few days ago. As the car could
not be repaired due to the lock-
down, Yadav borrowed his son's
bicycle to go to work on the day
of the incident.
"We told him to take an off
and waittill hiscargets repaired.
But he told us his duty was very
important and a lot of patients
and healthcare workers were
dependent on him," said a fam-
ily member. On Monday, Yadav
was on COVID-19 duty and was
responsible for the distribution
of PPE kits to healthcare work-
ers.
Dr Rakesh Prasad, Yadav's
friend who witnessed the inci-
dent, said, "He was returning
from work when a white Swift
Dzire hit him. We saw a young
man was driving the car. He did-
n't wait and sped away. We
called a PCR van, which rushed
him to the hospital."
“He was taking a right turn
form the Malviya Nagar traffic
junction when the car hit him
from the rear." said police.
A case has been registered
underIPCsections304Aand279
at Saket police station, police
said, adding that CCTV footage
around AurobindoMargisbeing
checked to identify the accused
and his car.
way, CM issues appeal to migrants
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14
HOURS AFTER Mumbai wit-
nessed protests by migrant
workers demanding arrange-
mentstogohome,theDelhigov-
ernmentswungintoaction,with
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
and the city's transport head
urging people to not fall for ru-
mours about buses plying at the
city's exit points.
Kejriwal issued a short video
message in which he requested
migrants from Uttar Pradesh,
Bihar, Haryana and other states
to stay back at least till May 3,
promising to make arrange-
ments for food and medicines
during this period.
from Bihar and “missed their
families”. “We thought that they
are leaving because they have no
food but they told us that they
want to go back to their families
andfindajobthere.Wetoldthem
that they would be risking their
healthbydoingthis.Theyunder-
stood us and returned," said a
senior police officer.
Kejriwalsaidpeoplemustre-
main disciplined and abide by
the lockdown regulations. "The
entire country needs to adhere
to the restrictions together. We
need to save our country, our
families. This is about our lives,"
he said.
Kejriwal,whohadwelcomed
the PM's decision to extend the
lockdown within minutes of the
Around 3 pm, police caught a group of migrant labourers, who were ostensibly trying to announcement, said the restric-

20 quarantined after court staff TransportCommissioner(ad-

ditional charge) Manisha Saxena
said, “It appears that some ru-
leave the city, at the Mehrauli-Badarpur Road near South Delhi’s Saket. Express tions have helped save lives, un-
like many foreign countries
wherethepandemichasclaimed

dies and judge tests positive
PRITAM PAL SINGH
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14
AT LEAST 20 people have been
placed under home quarantine
after a 42-year-old Saket court
died at the hospital on Monday
waspostedatSaketDistrictCourt
complex in a copy agency and
was regularly visiting a South
Delhi hospital for dialysis.
Senior Public Prosecutor, A T
Ansari, posted at Saket Court
avirus infection and is presently
undergoingtreatmentatahospi-
tal.
A member of the Delhi State
Legal Services Authority con-
firmed that the judge’s wife,
daughter and his nephew have
mours are being spread that
buses are available to go to the
borders. No Delhi Transport
Corporation or any other buses
are available and lockdown is to
be strictly observed."
TheMHAhadpreviouslysus-
pended Additional Chief
Secretary (Transport) Renu
Sharma after the city had landed
in a crisis with lakhs of migrants
assembling at bus terminals like
AnandVihar,borderingUP,afew
days into the announcement of
the nation-wide lockdown by
Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Apart from Kejriwal and
Saxena'sappeals,Chief Secretary
Vijay Dev directed the special
commissioners of police and the
district magistrates to hit the
ground to monitor the situation.
Around 3 pm, police caught a
group of migrant labourers, who
were ostensibly trying to leave
thecity,attheMehrauliBadarpur
RoadnearSouthDelhi’sSaket.An
officersaidthattheystoppedover
55 labourers, who were carrying
bags of wheat and rice. The men
had come from South Delhi’s
Saidulajab, the officer added.
DCP (South) Atul Kumar
Thakursaid,“Wecalledabusand
everyone was dropped home.”
Police said that the migrants hail
thousands of lives.
"Now if we don't follow the
rules,ourhardworkoverthelast
threeweekswillgotowaste. Iun-
derstand many of you are from
UP, Haryana and Bihar...Try and
control your urge to head back.
Otherwise there will be chaos,”
he said.

2 arrested for ‘abusing As corona strikes

staff Sunday died of coronavirus
infection and a judge tested
positive 10 days ago.
As per District and Sessions
Courts Employee Welfare
Association’s General Secretary
DeepakBhardwaj,thestafferwho
said the man contracted the
virus after he came in contact
with a coronavirus positive
nurse who was carrying out his
dialysis.
Thejudge,whowasondepu-
tation, tested positive for coron-
tested positive and have been
admitted at AIIMS, Jhajjar.
“Seven others are under home
Over 80 from
quarantine till April 19,” said the
member. The area had been de-
women over religion’ home, DCP couple Karnataka
reach home
clared a containment zone on
Monday.

find a new routine

criminated on the basis of their
EXPRESSNEWSSERVICE religion. The men then verbally
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14 abused the women and stopped EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
them from buying groceries. We NEW DELHI, APRIL 14
POLICE HAVE arrested two gro- received the complaint and ex- setuparoominourbackyard.We
cerystoreownersforallegedlyin- amined all the details. The shop- MAHENDERSINGH wereworriedhowwewouldstop MORE THAN 80 residents of
sultinga50-year-oldwomanand keepers were arrested on MANRAL the kids from trying to play with Karnataka, who arrived from
her daughter over their religion. Tuesday.” NEW DELHI, APRIL 14 him,soweblockedallwaystothe abroad, have managed to return
Thecomplainantsaidtheinci- A case has been registered room,” she said, adding that the home after completing their 14-
dent took place on April 11. The against them under IPC sections ONSUNDAYevening,DCP(South childrennowspeaktotheirfather day quarantine at government-
accused are siblings and run the 341(punishmentforwrongfulre- west) Devender Arya was in- throughvideocalloroccasionally monitored facilities in Delhi.
shop together. straint) and 289 (uttering words formed that an assistant sub-in- peek through the window to The office of the resident
A senior police officer said, with deliberate intent to wound spector he had been in contact catch a glimpse of him. “The kids commissioner of Karnataka in
“When the woman went with the religious feelings of any per- with had tested positive for are used to hugging us the mo- Delhifacilitatedtheirmovement
herdaughtertoastoreinGautam son) at Hauz Khas police station. COVID-19,forcingtheofficertogo ment we get home. But that rou- after various districtadministra-
Nagar, one of the shopkeepers Police said that the women for home quarantine. tinehaschanged—thefirstthing tion officials in the capital ap-
blockedtheirway.Theyweredis- live in South Extension. For his wife, DCP (Northwest) Idonowisdropmybelongingsat proached them.
Vijayanta Goyal Arya, though, it’s thedoorandgoforashower.They "They told us that there are
workasusual,butwiththeadded aren’tatanagetounderstand,but people in various facilities in
pressureofmakingsurethingsre- wehadtomakeexcusestoensure Narela, Aerocity and Noida, who
mainsmoothathome.Thecouple they follow the rules,” she said. want to travel back to
also have two children, aged five “We never imagined our- Karnataka... The office of the res-
andseven.“Iwastakingameeting selves in such a situation, but if it ident commissioner then facili-
ofSHOsthroughvideo-conferenc- has come to this, we have to face tated their movement," an offi-
ing when my husband called and it. We are proud to be part of cialfromKarnataka Bhavan said.
informedmeabouttheASItesting those working on the frontlines, Among those who travelled
positive. My first question was and our seniors are very helpful. back to their home state were
whether he had come in contact They are calling us and offering about 30 students who arrived
withtheASI.Igotconcernedwhen help,” she said. “Nowadays my fromItalyandwerequarantined
he told me he had met him re- children attend classes through at the Indo Tibetan Border Police
cently,”saidDCPVijayanta. video conferencing, but we are facility in Southwest Delhi's
“We immediately started not with them during that time. Chawla . Around 30 others were
thinkingofaplaceforquarantine Sometimes it does feel bad be- senior citizens and the remain-
since we have two small kids at cause all other parents are there, ingwerepeopleinthe 30-40age
home. We eventually decided to supervising their kids.” group, the official said. They
HIMACHAL PRADESH were taken to Bengaluru over
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT Municipal Corporation Kota (Rajasthan) the past few days in batches and
e-Procurement Notice Rajeev Gandhi Bhawan Dushera Ground, Kota to their home cities from there.
Ramakrishna Kapa (43), who
INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB) Tel Ph.No.: 0744-2500197, email: nnkota@gmail.com website: www.kotamc.org
reachedBengaluruTuesday,said,
The Executive Engineer HPPWD Bangana Division Distt Una H.P. on behalf of Governor of No:- NNK/GARAGE/2020/102-116 Date: 13.04.20
H.P invites the online bids for item rate, in electronic tendering in 2 Cover System for the below men- “There were several stops on the
CORRIGENDUM-III way where police checked our
tioned works from the eligible and approved contractors/Firms registered with HPPWD Department. The e-tender number 41/2019-20 and e-tender corrigendum
Sr. Name of Work Estimated EMD Time Cost Eligible nnk/Garage/2020/3659-3673 was issued by Municipal Corporation Kota on
temperatures. On reaching
No. Cost Limit of Class of 23.03.2020 On behalf of Kota Smart City Ltd. Revised E-Tender time Schedule are Bengaluru,weweretakentoapo-
Tender Contractor as follows which can be kindly seen for reference on www.sppp.raj.nic.in, lice station where they took our
http://eproc.rajasthan.gov.in, www.kotamc.org.
1. Routine repair & maintenance of road from 12,86,389/- 30,000/- Twelve 500/- Class- A to D details and asked us to remain in
Lathiani to Kodra km.0/0 to 8/420). Month S. Particular Before After home quarantine for 14 days."
No.
2. Routine repair & maintenance of UAM to 12,24,224/- 30,000/- Twelve 500/- Class- A to D Meanwhile, some of the res-
Pirnigah via Lamlehri km.0/0 to 8/0). Month 1 Period of on-line availability/ 28.02.2020 to 28.02.2020 to
receiving of Bidding Documents 15.04.2020 11.05.2020 idents from other states, includ-
3. Routine repair & maintenance of road from 24,33,336/- 44,000/- Twelve 1500/- Class- A to D (Start/End Date) (upto 6.00 PM) (upto 6.00 PM) ing Andhra Pradesh and
Bhaloun Sohari to Bhindla km. 0/0 to 12/0). Month
2 Submission of original Banker’s 16.04.2020 12.05.2020 Maharashtra, who completed
1. Availability of Bid Document and mode of submission: The Bid document is available online and bid Cheque/ Demand Draft for Bid (upto 2.00 PM) (upto 2.00 PM) their quarantine, have been un-
should be submitted in online mode on website https://hptenders.gov.in. Bidder would be required to register Document cost, Bid Security, Bid
in the web-site which is free of cost. For submission of bids, the bidder is required to have Digital Signature Processing Fee & other
able to reach home.
Certificate (DSC) from one of the authorized Certifying Authorities (CA). “Aspiring bidders who have not documents listed herein after
obtained the user ID and password for participating in e-tendering in HPPWD may obtain the same from the 3 Date & Time of Technical Bid 16.04.2020 12.05.2020
website: https://hptenders.gov.in. Digital signature is mandatory to participate in the e-tendering. Bidders Opening (4.00 PM) (4.00 PM)
already possessing the digital signature issued from authorized CAs can use the same in this tender.
2. Key Dates:
Other conditions will remain the same.
1. Date of Online Publication 30.04.2020 11.00 hrs. Sd/-
Commissioner
2. Document Download Start and End Date 30.04.2020 17.00 hrs. 06.05.2020 upto 17.00 hrs. Municipal Corporation, Kota VARIOUS ENGINEERING WORKS
3. Bid Submission Start and End Date 30.04.2020 17.00 hrs. 06.05.2020 upto 17.00 hrs. E-Tender Notice No: 02 of 2020-21 Date: 13.04.2020, Office Address:
4. Physical Submission of EMD and Cost of Tender 08.05.2020 upto 11.00 hrs. Government of Gujarat Divisional Railway Manager (Engg.), Western Railway, Kothi Compound,
Document Rajkot, Gujarat - 360 001. Website: www.ireps.gov.in
5. Date of Technical Bid opening. 08.05.2020 11.30 hrs.
Education Department, Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar
Date & Time
Sr. E-Tender Approximate EMD
6. Evaluation of Technical Bid. Evaluation of technical Bid will be followed after INVITATION OF APPLICATIONS FOR THE POST No. No.
Name of Work
NIT Cost (`) Cost (`)
of Opening
verification of the documents. of Tender
OF OMBUDSPERSON FOR ALL THE STATE
DRM-RJT- Bailing out of 12.05.2020
2. TENDER DETAILS: UNIVERSITIES (PUBLIC AS WELL AS PRIVATE) 01
20-E-11 rainy water from
13,79,927.64 27,600.00
15:00 Hrs.
3. The Tender Documents shall be uploaded online in 2 Covers: OF GUJARAT STATE LHS/LC No. 137, 149, 146, 156, 182, 184 & 191 under the jurisdiction of
i) Cover 1: shall contain scanned copies of all “Technical Documents/ Eligibility Information”.
ii) Cover2: shall contain “BOQ/Financial Bid”, where contractor will quote his offer for each item. Education Department, Government of Gujarat invites Assistant Divisional Engineer (East) Jamnagar for the monsoon of 2020 (For
04 months).
4. Submission of Original Documents: The bidders are required to submit (a) original demand draft applications for the post of ombudsperson for all the state
towards the cost of bid document and (b) original bid security/Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) and other DRM-RJT- Bailing out of 12.05.2020
Technical Documents in O/o Executive Engineer HPPWD Division Bangana H.P. as specified in Key
universities. The advertisement and the format of application 02
20-E-12 rainy water from
11,67,631.08 23,400.00
15:00 Hrs.
dates Sr. No. 5 on Tender Opening Date, failing which the bids will be declared non-responsive. are available on the website: http://gujarat-education.gov.in. LHS/LC No. 400/A, 401/A, 401/B, 225, 226, 238, 246, 262 & 269 under
5. BID OPENING DETAILS: The bids shall be opened on 08.05.2020 at 11.30 hrs. in the office Executive The applications in the prescribed proforma should reach the jurisdiction of Assistant Divisional Engineer (West) Jamnagar for the
Engineer, Bangana Division HPPWD Bangana H.P. by the authorised officer. In their interest the tender- monsoon of 2020 (For 04 months).
ers are advised to be present along with original documents at the time of opening of tenders. If the office within 30 days from the date of the publication of this
DRM-RJT- Rajkot - Mainte- 12.05.2020
happens to be closed on the date of opening of the bids as specified, the bids will be opened on the next advertisement by Registered/Speed post to Principal 03
20-E-13 nance of Garden
21,16,898.06 42,300.00
15:00 Hrs.
working day at the same time and venue. Secretary (Higher Education), Department of Education, and plants in bungalows & service building in Kothi Compound at Rajkot for
6. The bids for the work shall remain valid for acceptance for a period not less than 120 days after the
deadline date for bid submission. Block No-5, 8th Floor, New Sachivalaya, Gandhinagar, 24 months.
Gujarat, India-382010. For more details please visit the DRM-RJT- Hapa - Construc- 14.05.2020
7. Other details can be seen in the bidding documents. The officer inviting tender shall not be held liable 04 2,32,86,120.26 2,66,400.00
for any delays due to system failure beyond his control. Even though the system will attempt to notify the 20-E-14 tion of bridge by 15:00 Hrs.
website : http://gujarat-education.gov.in providing 6m X 2.50m box by replacement of existing bridge (5 pipes X
bidders of any bid updates, the Employer shall not be liable for any information not received by the bid-
der. It is the bidders’ responsibility to verify the website for the latest information related to the tender. Sd/- 1.20m dia each) at Hapa by cut and cover method.
8. The copy of EPF No/GST No must be attached. (Ronak Mehta) 05
DRM-RJT- Rajkot Division
76,70,311.32 1,53,400.00
14.05.2020
On behalf of Governor of H.P. 19-E-68R - Repairing of as- 15:00 Hrs.
Executive Engineer
Date:15/4/2020 Deputy Secretary (Higher Edu.),
phalting road near Line No.1 and 3 at Windmill.
HPPWD Division Bangana, Distt Una H.P. INF/7/20-21 Education Department
0061/H.P.

New Delhi

5 THE OUTBREAK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2020
CORONA
WATCH
A devotee outside a
closed temple in
Kolkata. Partha Paul
MEGHALAYA
Doc positive,
hospital sealed,
man kills self
Guwahati: A 26-year old
patient at a hospital in
Shillong which was sealed
after a doctor tested posi-
tive for COVID-19 on
Monday, allegedly com-
mitted suicide, officials
said Tuesday. Confirming
the death, Chief Minister
Conrad Sangma said it was
not related to the coron-
avirus pandemic. “The in-
dividual was undergoing
rehabilitation as he had
psychiatricproblem andin
all likelihood it was a sui-
cide,” Sangma was quoted
as saying in an official
statement. ENS
TELANGANA
Migrant
worker from
Bihar kills self
Hyderabad: A 24-year old
migrant worker from Bihar
allegedly committed sui-
cide here reportedly upset
overnotbeingabletoreturn
homeduetothelockdown,
police said on Tuesday. The
man, who belonged to
Lakhisarai district, was
found hanging from a ceil-
ingfaninhisrentedroomin
UppalareaonMonday,they
said. PTI
J&K
Gujjars offer
free milk to
quarantined
Jammu:Thepresidentofthe
Dodhi Gujjar Association,
Jamil Choudhary, on
Tuesdayofferedtosupplyall
thoseinquarantinefacilities
in Jammu, Samba and
Kathuadistrictsmilkfreeof
cost. “We have contacted
the Divisional
Commissioner, Jammu,
Sanjeev Verma, asking him
to tell us how much milk
was needed,” said
Choudhary, adding that
they will start supplies im-
mediatelyaftertheyreceive
areplyfromtheadministra-
tion. Nearly two lakh litres
of milk is produced across
Jammuprovinceeveryday,
which DodhiGujjarssellto
people in towns, he said.
However, following the
lockdown,theconsumption
has come down by nearly
40 per cent. ENS
2 youngest patients at Haryana hospital
discharged, 14 recoveries in Kashmir
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
CHANDIGARH, SRINAGAR,
APRIL 14
THE CIVIL hospital at Haryana’s
SirsaonTuesdaydischargedtwo
of itsyoungestCovid-19patients
— an eight-year-old girl and her
six-year-old brother.
The siblings were tested last
month after their mother was
found positive on March 30. The
children are presumed to have
contracted the virus from their
mother, who continues to be in
hospital.
According to doctors at the
hospital,thechildrenwouldplay
games on mobile phones and
talk to their mother through
video-calling.
The two children and the
mother are among the four
Covid-19casesthatSirsahashad
WEST BENGAL
15 cops hurt in clash over quarantine centre
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
KOLKATA, APRIL 14
FIFTEEN POLICEMEN were in-
jured when violence broke out
inChuruliavillageof Asansoldis-
trict on Tuesday, reportedly af-
ter local residents started de-
manding that a quarantine
centre set up in the village be
shifted out.
According toanofficialof the
Asansol district police, seven ve-
hicles were damaged and the
police were also fired upon dur-
ing the violence.
Acasewas registeredagainst
unidentified people and the po-
lice have started an investiga-
tion, the official said.
The quarantine centre, a stu-
dent hostel, was set up earlier in
the week. Since then, according
All trains up
to May 3
cancelled
AVISHEK G DASTIDAR
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14
AFTER PRIME Minster Narendra
Modi announced the extension
of thelockdown,IndianRailways
on Tuesday decided to cancel all
trainsuntilMay3whilekeeping,
even if on paper, a window open
to run special services if the gov-
ernment directs.
“Resumptionof trainservices
as may be warranted in consid-
eration of public safety keeping
in view the emergent situation
shall be announced in due
course,” a notification from the
Railway Board to its zonal rail-
waysstated,informingaboutthe
cancellation.
Like Air India, which sus-
pended bookings from April 15
to 30, Indian Railways also de-
cided to not allow advanced
booking of tickets. Tuesday’s
cancellation of trains meant
nearly 40 lakh tickets were can-
celled in trains scheduled to run
between April 15 and May 3.
While Modi said that after
April20someplacesthatareless
affected might see easing of the
lockdown in some form,
Railways officials said there is so
far no communication to run
trains even in such areas.
But sources said that as a
matter of preparedness, the sys-
temhastheabilitytorunaround
1,000 special trains at a mo-
ment’s notice.
Centre-state
coordination
laudable: Shah
New Delhi: Following the Prime
Minister's Tuesday announce-
ment to extend the nationwide
lockdown to May 3, Home
Minister Amit Shah took to
Twittertolaudtheeffortsof state
governments in the fight against
the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The way all the State
Governments are working to-
gether with the Central
Governmentistrulylaudable.This
coordination needs tobeintensi-
fied...sothatallcitizensfollowthe
lockdown...,” Shah tweeted.
He also assured people that
they would not face difficulties
infindingessentialsuppliesdur-
ing the lockdown. ENS
tilldate.Whilethechildrenwere
discharged on Tuesday, the con-
dition of the other two patients
was stable.
Overthelast10days,Haryana
has increased coronavirus test-
ing more than four times. As
compared to 1,430 samples sent
fortestingonApril4,theHaryana
Health Department on Tuesday
saidthat6,163samplesweresent
fortestingtilldate.Of thesesam-
ples, the reports of 4,591 have
been found negative while the
reports for 1,388 samples are
awaited.
A total of 14,780 people are
currently under surveillance
across Haryana while 1,186 are
eitherhospitalizedorkeptiniso-
lation facilities.
With two fresh cases re-
ported from Faridabad,
Haryana’s total count of Covid-
19 patients reached 184 on
A police officer checks vehicles in Kolkata. Partha Paul
to the administration, at least 20
people had been admitted to
the facility.
On Monday, health depart-
mentofficialsdiscoveredthatsix
of the inmates had a fever.
No concrete steps, silent on
migrants: Oppn on PM address
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, KOLKATA,
CHENNAI, APRIL 14
OPPOSITIONPARTIESTuesdayhit
out at the BJP government over
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s
address to the nation, saying it
lacked any concrete measures to
tackle problems related to the
coronavirus pandemic and the
nationwide lockdown.
Extending support to the de-
cision to extend the lockdown,
theCongressslammedPMModi
for not spelling out a concrete
roadmap for revival of the econ-
omy, ramping up coronavirus
testing, harvesting of crops and
restoring the supply chain, be-
sides financial support for the
vulnerable and facilitating the
travel of stranded migrant
workers. Former finance minis-
terPChidambaramsaidthegov-
ernmenthasleftthepoortofend
for themselves.
“Itisobviousthatlivelihoodfor
the poor — their survival — is not
among the priorities of the gov-
ernment. Chief Ministers’ de-
mand for money elicited no re-
States clamour for resources as
Centre extends lockdown till May 3
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14
STATE GOVERNMENTS strug-
gling under the economic
weight of lockdown are upset
that Prime Minister Narendra
Modi, while announcing exten-
sion of lockdown till May 3, did-
n’t spell out urgent measures to
tide over the crisis.
While Punjab Chief Minister
Amarinder Singh said that
promised packages were yet to
come but he was giving the
Centre time to formulate a col-
lective response to the demands
of all states, Kerala Finance
Minister Thomas Issac said the
Centre should take steps to ad-
dress the states’ economic crisis.
Issacsaidthe statewelcomes
the decision to extend the lock-
down, but there is no step to en-
sure the livelihood of ordinary
people. He said the Centre
Tuesday.
Therewasencouragingnews
from Kashmir, too, with 14 peo-
ple being discharged from two
Valley hospitals — SKIMS, Soura,
and Chest Disease Hospital in
Srinagar.“Fornowourluckseems
to be holding!!! 8 new cases, 14
recoveries. New cases- 06 from
Kashmir and 02 from Jammu
Division. 14 recoveries, all from
Kashmir. Total cases now 278,”
J&K government spokesperson
Rohit Kansal tweeted.
Meanwhile, the Srinagar ad-
ministration came under criti-
cism after they sealed a road at
Natipora, which was declared a
redzone,bydiggingtheroadand
using iron and cement blocks. A
picture of the area went viral on
social media.
“Who’s this birdbrain, who
came up with such a silly idea?
In the first place they shouldn’t
According to officials, the six
were then transferred to the
Asansol General Hospital.
Soonafterhowever,localres-
idents allegedly started de-
manding that the quarantine
sponse. Not a rupee has been
added to the miserly package of
March25.FromRaghuramRajan
to Jean Dreze, from Prabhat
PatnaiktoAbhijitBanerji,theirad-
vice has fallen on deaf ears. The
poor have been left to fend for
themselves for 21+19 days... Cry,
my beloved country,” he said.
FormerpartypresidentRahul
Gandhi tweeted, “India delayed
the purchase of testing kits & is
now critically short of them.
With just 149 tests per million
Indians, we are now in the com-
pany of Laos (157), Niger (182) &
Honduras (162). Mass testing is
the key to fighting the virus. At
present we are nowhere in the
game.”
Congress leader in the Lok
Sabha,AdhirRanjanChowdhury,
accused the Centre of wasting
precious time in January and
February in dealing with the un-
folding pandemic.
Congress spokesperson
Manish Tewari said the “Prime
Minister spelt out what he ex-
pectsthepeopleofIndiatodo,but
didnotspelloutwhathisgovern-
ment is doing for the people of
India”. He said the PM was silent
should intervene to ensure RBI
loan for states. He tweeted:
“Without income support com-
pliancewillbelow...Withoutad-
ditional resources states will be
constrained.”
Maharashtra CM Uddhav
Thackeray, while appealing to
protestingmigrantworkerstobe
patient, said a cabinet ministers'
group was making a plan for re-
sumptionof industrialoperation
from April 20. Senior state gov-
ernment officials told The Indian
Express that the state govern-
ment was expecting Modi to an-
nounce guidelines for immedi-
aterelaxationof thelockdownin
certain areas so that industries
and businesses could resume.
With production in 95 per
cent of Maharashtra’s registered
factories coming to a halt, the
state’s fiscal managers had pro-
jectedalossofincometothetune
ofRs42,000croretillApril14.The
state suffered a loss of Rs 27,000
damage the roads, even during
the strict curfews in Kashmir,
Admin used to lay concertina
wiretoblockroads.Whatincase
there is a medical or fire emer-
gency?”PDPspokespersonTahir
Sayeed tweeted.
Senior Journalist Naseer
Ganai also tweeted, “Roads are
blocked this way, till yesterday
they used to lay concertina wire
to block every kocha and gully,
why iron polls now?”
ReactingtoGanai’stweet,the
Srinagar administration said,
“We wish to clarify that 2-3 en-
try/exit points are kept open in
all Red Zones for Essential
Services/Movementof peopleor
officials/Surveillance/Emergenc
y. Teams stationed locally.
Several instances of damage/re-
moval of barricades during
nights necessitated locking few
locations.”
centre be shifted out. Police of-
ficials said on Tuesday morning,
a mob of residents attacked the
teamstationedatthefacilityand
the violence broke out. In retali-
ation, the police had to fire tear
gas shells into the crowd, they
said.
Fifteen policemen, including
the Officer-in-Charge of Jamuria
Police Station, Subrata Ghosh,
were injured in this clash.
Officials said a large police
contingent has now been sta-
tioned in the area which contin-
ues to remain tense.
Apart from readying dedi-
cated hospitals for patients of
COVID 19 in the state — Calcutta
Medical College hospital,
Infectious Diseases hospital in
Beleghata, MR Bangur hospital
andnewcampusof Chittoranjan
cancer research institute in
ondemandsforrampinguptest-
ing and providing personal pro-
tection gear to frontline health
workers.
TheTMC andthe CPI(M)said
there was nothing new in the
PM’s address. TMC leader and
West Bengal minister Subrata
Mukherjee said, “Mamata
Banerjee had announced that
lockdowninWestBengalwillre-
main in place till April 30. As
most of the states did the same,
PMModihadnochoicebuttoex-
tend the lockdown. This is not
surprising at all.”
CPI(M) leader Tanmoy
Bhattacharya said Modi did not
say anything about daily wage
earners. “PM Modi did not say
anything about how these work-
erswillreturntotheirhomes,and
if not then how will they survive
the entire lockdown period?”
DMK chief M K Stalin said the
PM’s address was disappointing
as it lacked measures to help the
needy. “What people had ex-
pected was not advice but meas-
ures. When will PM Modi deliver
a speech with answers to ques-
tions in the minds of people suf-
fering,” Stalin asked.
crore in potential revenue in
March alone, resulting in short-
fallinincomecollectionsin2019-
20. Maharashtra has sought a Rs
25,000 crore financial assistance
package from the Centre. In a
communicationtoUnionFinance
MinisterNirmalaSitharamanlast
week, the state finance minister
also demanded immediate re-
leaseof Rs16,651croreincentral
grants due to the state.
Andhra Pradesh, hamstrung
by bifurcation, has had almost
zerorevenuesincethelockdown
began. "From Rs 8,900-Rs 9,000
crore per month, revenues have
come down to almost nil. In
March 2019, it was about Rs
8,000 crore per month, but this
March andApril, it wouldbe less
than Rs 1,000 crore,’’ Finance
Minister B Rajendranath said.
Andhra has requested the
Centre to prioritise farming as
agriculture contributes 34 per
cent to GSDP. In a letter to Modi,
Uttarakhand to
start pool testing
LALMANI VERMA
DEHRADUN, APRIL 14
THE UTTARAKHAND govern-
ment has decided to start pool
testingofsuspectedcasesofcoro-
navirus and issued directives to
labs in this regard. Officials said
the decision has been taken fol-
lowing guidelines of the ICMR.
Yugal Kishore Pant,
AdditionalSecretary, Health and
Family Welfare said that five
samples will be tested at a time
in pool testing.
“Directions have been issued
to the labs for pool testing. It will
enhance the capacity of the labs
andtestingprocesswillspeedup
and there will be no delay in re-
ports,” Pant said.
So far in the state, 37 of a total
of 2,174sampleshavetestedpos-
itiveforthevirus,andthereports
of 273 samples were awaited.
Nation
Rajarhat—thestategovernment
is also converting schools, col-
leges, indoor stadiums, hotels
andguesthouses arequarantine
centres in the districts.
However,severalinstancesof
protests and objections against
the centres — reportedly over
fears of an infection — have
emerged, officials said.
Earlier, in Bhangar block of
South 24 Parganas district, local
residents attacked the police al-
legedly over the location of a
quarantine centre.
In another similar incident,
one person died as two groups
in Talibpur village under Panrui
police station area of Birbhum
district clashed with each other
over setting up of a quarantine
centre. Seven people have been
arrested in connection with the
violence.
Punjab helplines:
9 lakh messages,
calls in 25 days
SOFI AHSAN
CHANDIGARH, APRIL 14
OVER THE last 25 days since
March 20, authorities in Punjab
have received over 9 lakh SOS
messages — phone calls, distress
messages — on three different
helpline numbers.
Of these, a total 4,73,530 calls
were received on Health
Department helplines — 104 and
108 — till April 13 from March 23
when curfew was imposed in in
the state. On the 112 police
helpline, 4,97,043 communica-
tions were received in the same
period. While a majority of these
9,70,573callswererelateddirectly
to health emergencies, at least
39,849 pertained to crimes
against women.
“The traffic in the initial days
of lockdown was very high. The
volume now is a bit low on 104
and 108helplines.It has reduced
tohalfonthem,but112continues
torecordahighvolume.Thisisbe-
cause112iskindof SOSforevery-
thing,” said IAS officer Amit
Talwar, who has been made in-
charge of the helpline numbers.
Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan
Reddy requested the Centre to
initiate steps to enable seamless
transportation and marketing of
goods. AP has sought opening of
national highways for its trucks
to move goods.
West Bengal CM Mamata
Banerjee and Finance Minister
Amit Mitra had written to the
PM and Sitaraman urging them
to sanction Rs 25,000 crore for
the state and release due funds
asthestate'sfinancesarein“dire
situation”.Afinancedepartment
official said, “We used to earn 90
per cent revenue from excise,
lottery, stamp revenue and
transport sectors. With the lock-
down, these four sectors are giv-
ing zero revenue. That is almost
Rs 1,700 crore per month.”
--WITHINPUTSFROM
VISHWASWAGHMODE,
SREENIVASJANYALA,
ATRIMITRA,KANCHANVASDEV
ANDSHAJUPHILIP
New Delhi
Indiareaches
outtoChina
for15mnPPEs
SHUBHAJIT ROY
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14
TO MEET its requirement of 15
million personal protection
equipment (PPEs), which in-
cludesgowns,masks,glovesand
goggles, India has now reached
out to China and has placed or-
ders. New Delhi is also in the
process of procuring 1.5 million
rapid testing kits from China,
some of which have already
been delivered.
These were revealed by
Indian ambassador to China
Vikram Misri in an online brief-
ingfromBeijingonTuesday.This
essentially means that India is
depending on China for the PPE
overalls as Indian doctors have
complained of shortage of PPEs
in the hospitals.
The Indian Express had re-
portedonApril6thatthecentral
government has calculated that
thecountrywillrequireabout15
million PPEs and 1.6 million di-
agnostic kits in the next two
months. This was conveyed to
industry representatives during
a meeting on April 3 of the em-
powered group of officials on
“coordinating with private sec-
tor, NGOs and international or-
ganisations”,whichisheadedby
NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant.
This comes at a time when
China is facing complaints of ex-
porting low quality items from
European countries. However,
after facing criticism, China
steppedupqualitychecksonex-
ports of 11 categories of medical
products, including masks, pro-
tective suits, goggles and
ventilators.
Indian envoy to China Misri
also said the two countries can
Gujarat Cong MLA
tests positive, had
met CM, his deputy
EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, APRIL 14
A CONGRESS MLA from
Ahmedabad on Tuesday re-
ported positive for coronavirus,
leading to panic in the Gujarat
Secretariat, and condemnation
of his “mistake”, as he had met
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay
Rupani, Deputy CM Nitin Patel
and state minister Pradeepsinh
Jadeja along with Congress
MLAs Gyasuddin Shaikh and
Shailesh Parmar.
Themeetingtookplaceatthe
CM’s official residence in
Gandhinagar to discuss the situ-
ation in Ahmedabad under the
ongoing lockdown.
The MLA, Imran Khedawala,
represents Jamalpur-Khadia
constituency in the Walled City.
The CM’s Office (CMO)
blamed Khedawala for not tak-
ing necessary precaution after
having given his sample for test-
ing. Quoting Ashwani Kumar,
secretary to the CM, a CMO re-
leasestated,“Becausetherewere
a number of cases of Corona in
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
cooperate on pharmaceuticals,
specially the active pharmaceu-
tical indicators (APIs).
These are being procured
from Chinese companies by the
Indian government and private
companies. The Indian Embassy
in Beijing is facilitating the pro-
curement. China had donated
1,70,000PPEcoverallsearlier,of-
ficials said. More than 5,00,000
testing kits from China have al-
ready been delivered to various
entities, while 1 to 1.5 million
test kits are at different stages of
procurement and production.
“I think facilitation of our
needs and our requirements in
a timely manner, in a smooth
manner, on a predictable time-
line at prices that are stable and
orderly would be the best signal
possible to send for the India-
China relationship,” he said.
“Thisoffersusopportunityof
cooperating in smooth manner.
We are identifying bona fide
suppliers and entering into
agreements. What is important
is quality material continues to
be available at reasonable and
stable prices and we are able to
re-establish freight and cargo
lines (which were disrupted by
initial impact of the coronavirus
crisis),” Misri said.
“When China was at the
height of dealing with this out-
break, we had offered and pro-
vided medical assistance,” the
envoysaid,referringtoIndiadis-
patching15tonsof medicalsup-
plies to China.
Misri said India appreciated
efforts by China to ensure the
quality of goods being exported
and requested the Chinese gov-
ernment to expedite the new
registration process of the local
companies.
walled city, CM Rupani had
called local MLAs of the entire
area...Aroundtwodaysback,fol-
lowing symptoms like flu and
fever,Khedawala’ssampleswere
taken... He should have avoided
meeting others till the reports
came. By not doing so, he com-
mitted a mistake.”
The release mentioned that
Khedawala was sitting 15-20
feet away from Rupani, and said
medical experts’ advice will be
sought on Wednesday morning.
The Indian Express asked
Ashwani Kumar whether
Rupani and the others will be
quarantined or isolated. He
replied in a text message, “Will
let you know if that happens.”
Khedawala had earlier in the
day told The Indian Express: “We
met the CM (and others) to ap-
peal for increased testing in the
WalledCityarea...Weshouldtest
more because the area in itself is
extremely densely populated.”
Deputy Municipal Commi-
ssioner Mukesh Gadhvi con-
firmedthatKhedawalahastested
positive an said, “I am not aware
wherehehasbeenhospitalised.”
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

6 THE OUTBREAK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2020

Nation

Just four cities account for Behind Indore high

DELHI CONFIDENTIAL
60% of coronavirus deaths
Greater Mumbai area leads with 127 out of 382 COVID-19 fatalities
AMITABH SINHA
PUNE, APRIL 14
WITHTHEnumberof deathsdue
toCOVID-19havingcrossed380,
figures show that more than 60
per cent of the deaths have been
reported from just four cities,
while Maharashtra accounts for
MEDICINE ON POST nearly half of all deaths.
Atotalof 382deathswerere-
WHILETELEMEDICINEguidelineswereissuedtodealwiththe ported from across the country
situation arising out of most hospitals getting out of bounds by the evening of April 14, out of
for routine OPD consultations, the issue of ensuring timely which 175, or 45 per cent, had
availability of life-saving drugs during the lockdown has got a happened in Maharashtra. The
newhelpinghandfromIndiaPost.Afterreceivingpublicfeed- Mumbai Metropolitan area, in-
back about difficulty in supply of life-saving drugs to people cluding Thane, Vasai, Panvel,
who used to source it from their family members living in big Navi Mumbai and Mira
cities, IT and Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad Bhayandar, together had regis-
is learnt to have got India Post to take it on priority to deliver tered 127 of these deaths, while
medicines through Speed Post during this period. Pune had reported 38.
Mumbai, Pune, Indore, and
Delhi together accounted for
GLARING OMISSION over 60 per cent of all deaths, a
total of 232 out of the 382
AS MANY as 24 IAS officers of 1988 batch have been empan- deaths. Ahmedabad, with 13
elledasSecretariesto theGovernmentof India.Oneomission, deaths, and Hyderabad, with
however, stood out: that of Kerala cadre officer Gyanesh 12, together accounted for an-
Kumar. The Kashmir division Additional Secretary in the other 25. These six cities to-
Ministry of Home Affairs has been in the thick of things since gether have seen two thirds of
Amit Shah became Home Minister. He was not only involved all deaths. Delhi had 30 deaths
in framing of the J&K Reorganisation Act, which led to abro- until Tuesday evening, while
gation of special status under Article 370 and 35A, but was Indore had seen 37 of the 53
alsoentrustedbytheHomeMinistertheresponsibilitytoform deaths in Madhya Pradesh.
the Trust overseeing the construction of Ram Temple in Indore and Pune also had a
Ayodhya. But the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet very high ratio of deaths com-
has not empanelled Gyanesh Kumar even for an equivalent pared to the number of people
post. Although he may figure in the next empanelment exer- who had tested positive. Till
cise, his name being ignored in the first list has got tongues Tuesday, 374 people had tested
wagging in the power corridors. The Home Minister is part of positive in Pune, and 38 of them
the ACC, which is headed by the Prime Minister. had died, which means one
toll, vacuum at top,
WhatsApp rumours
Indore MP and former Speaker
LIZMATHEW& SumitraMahajanadmittedthere
DIPANKARGHOSE was “a lag in the beginning”, but
NEWDELHI,APRIL14 added things were on track now.
AseniorIASofficersaidthefirst
AS INDORE struggles to contain casesof coronainIndorewerere-
the spread of COVID-19, with 55 portedfromfour-fivepockets,pre-
per cent of the cases and 73 per dominantlyminority-dominated
cent of the deaths in MP, politi- andincludingBakkhal.“Evennow
cians,includingof theBJP,andof- these are the pockets with the
ficials on the ground admit a se- largestspread,”theofficialsaid.
ries of mistakes in the state’s The district administration as
largest city.
While the state wasn’t ade-
well as senior police officials say
much of the fear in these pockets
quatelyprepared,anddidnottake was due to fake WhatsApp for-
the crisis seriously at first, what wardswarningthat“coronavirus
compounded matters were wasbeinginjectedintoMuslims”,
WhatsApp messages polarising and that entire families would be
theMuslimcommunityinIndore takenintoquarantineandthenin-
against testing, as well as the ab- fected. Senior police officials said
sence of a clear hierarchy in the at least three people had been
midstofachangeofgovernment. bookedandtwoarrestedforrun-
As on Tuesday night, Indore ning these WhatsApp groups.
had 427 cases of 741 in the state Asaresultof thisfear,officials
and35ofits53deaths.Besides,13 believethosewithsymptomsde-
Fire brigade personnel disinfect an ambulance in Pune on Tuesday. Arul Horizon people are critical. layed coming to hospital, thus
A senior police officer, in-
charge of enforcing what he calls
pushingthemortalityinthesear-
eas to close to 10%, the highest in
11 positive case had succumbed “the strictest lockdown in the the country. “People came into
45 PER CENT DEATHS IN MAHARASHTRA to the disease. A majority of the country”,says,“Therewasalways hospitals only when things be-
PositiveTests Deaths positive cases as well as deaths a need to be very careful with came desperate. There was very
MUMBAI(includesThane,NaviMumbai, in Indore were of people linked Indore. It is the city that has the little chance of saving them,” a
VasaiandPanvelareas) 2,075 127 to last month's Tablighi Jamaat best air connectivity in the state. senior official said, while adding
PUNE 374 38 event in New Delhi. Itsindustrialzonehaspeoplefrom that it didn’t absolve the govern-
INDORE 411 37 This proportion is consider- various states. But, in the first few ment of lack of preparedness.
DELHI 1,561 30 ablylowerinMumbaiandDelhi. days,IwillsaytilltheendofMarch, Congress leader and Indore
AHMEDABAD 373 13 The 127 deaths recorded in the there were problems in the ad- resident Shobha Oza accused the
HYDERABAD 303 12 Greater Mumbai region have ministration,andthatcostus.” Shivraj Singh Chouhan govern-
ALLINDIATOTAL(tillTuesday) 382 come from a total of 2,075 posi- On Monday, 1,142 samples ment of “criminal negligence”.
All figures till Sunday (except Indore, which is updated till Monday) tive cases. That gives it a rate of weresentfortestingtoDelhiviaa “TheBJPanditsleaders,including
one death in nearly 16 positive charteredplane,toclearabacklog Chouhan, made fun of the initial
cases. In Delhi, there has been in the state. BJP general secretary coronavirus warnings,” she said.
deathforevery10positivecases. tested positive till now, and 37 one death for every 52 Kailash Vijayvargiya, a former FULL REPORT ON
In Indore, 411 people had had died, meaning one in every positive cases. Indore MLA, as well as ex-BJP www.indianexpress.com

WITHDRAWAL ORDER
CONSUMER AFFAIRS, Food and Public Distribution Minister
Cases rise, team Recovery curve aligned with
sent to hotspot case rate, with a 2-week lag
Ram Vilas Paswan on Tuesday asked the Department of
Consumer Affairs (DoCA) to withdraw the office memoran-
dumthataskedofficers/staff of DoCAtoinformregardingtheir
unwillingness/continuation of services in the department till
April 20, so that necessary action may be taken for relieving
such officials. When the matter came to the notice of Paswan,
he immediately ordered towithdraw the said memorandum.
“Secretary, DoCA, has been instructed to withdraw this OM
in Chhattisgarh KARISHMA MEHROTRA
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14
RECOVERY CURVES:
INDIA AND WORLD
mean period of 14 days. People
are as likely to recover earlier as
they are later, he said, making
these two effects balance each
and issue clarification. Offices shall continue to function as Chhattisgarhbeforethelockdown Amarinder Singh THERECOVERYrateof COVID-19 other out.
per MHA & DoPT orders during lockdown,” the minister GARGIVERMA were quarantined in these patients in India aligns closely ■ Cases "So that leaves only account-
tweeted with a snapshot of the memorandum. RAIPUR,APRIL14 mosques. “After we got details of with the curve of confirmed ■ Recovered14dayslater ing for those who died. This is

ONAPRIL4,a16-year-oldboywas
peoplewhoattendedNizamuddin
Markaz, we became extra sensi-
Experts say cases, with a lag of two weeks,
an examination of absolute
Datesonx-axiscorrespond probably why the recovered
curve is lower than the infected
tographofcasesonly.Graph
Writers, jurists US allows H-1B
escorted from a mosque in ward
number 10 of Katghora, a small
tive.Regardlessofwhetherpeople
hadatravelhistorytoNizamuddin,
curve won’t numbersshows.Thesamegraph
forglobalratesshowstheoverall
ofrecoveredbasedon
curve in (the global) figure,"
Sinha said.

slam UP police visa extension,

action against ‘The
Wire’, its editor
NewDelhi:Morethan3,300peo-
ple,includingformerjudges,ad-
vocates,journalists,writers,pro-
fessors and artistes, on Tuesday
criticised the Uttar Pradesh gov-
ernment’s move to file criminal
chargesagainstTheWireandone
of itsfoundingeditors Siddharth
Varadarajan for an “entirely fac-
tual story on the COVID-19 and
religious events”.
Inajointstatement,they said
that the “UP government sent
policemen driving across 700
kilometres during the national
lockdowntoissuethissummons
when the postal system is still
operational speaks volumes for
its priorities”. The action of UP
police, they said, “comes against
the backdrop of the demonisa-
tionofMuslimsinasectionof the
media...”
Thesignatoriesincluderetired
Supreme Court Justice Madan B
Lokur,formerChiefsofNavalStaff,
Admiral Ramdas and Admiral
Vishnu Bhagwat, among others.
ENS
relief for
stranded Indians
Washington: In a big relief for
thousands of stranded Indian
professionals in America due to
the coronavirus pandemic, the
US government has decided to
allow applications by H-1B visa
holders for an extended stay in
the country.
The US Department of
Homeland Security (DHS), in a
new notification, has said it
recognises that there are immi-
gration-related challenges as a
direct result of the coronavirus
pandemic. The announcement
comes at a time when countries
around the world have closed
their borders and all interna-
tional passenger flights have
been suspended globally.
“We recognise that non-im-
migrants may unexpectedly re-
main in the United States be-
yond their authorised period of
stay due to COVID-19,” the DHS
said. According to the USCIS,
Indians are the biggest benefici-
aries of the H-1B visa
programme. PTI
towninChhattisgarh’sKorbadis-
trict, to AIIMS-Raipur. A resident
of Maharashtra, he was scared
whentoldthathehadtestedpos-
itive for COVID-19. He has since
recovered. But according to offi-
cials, at least 3,000 people could
have come in contact with him,
possibly due to lax quarantine.
The small town of Katghora
has now emerged as the only
COVID-19 hotspot in
Chhattisgarh,whichhasreported
33cases so far. “We have23 posi-
tive cases from the area. All are
asymptomatic.Wearetesting300
samples every day, so it is possi-
ble we find more,” Health
Secretary Niharika Barik said.
Kathgoraislocatedoffthena-
tional highway connecting
Ambikapur and Bilaspur. It was
sealed off on Thursday.
“We have shut all entry and
exit ways, all stores are closed,
everyonehasbeenhomequaran-
tined.Wearetryingtocontainthe
infection in the two wards that
were affected,” a senior govern-
ment employee said.
In the two wards are two
mosques that were used as tem-
porarysheltersforpilgrims.The29
people who had travelled in two
groups from Maharashtra to
westartedgettingeveryonequar-
antined,”Bariksaid.
However, the mosques in
Kathgora where the pilgrims
werequarantinedwerenotcom-
pletelysealed.“Menusedtogoin
to deliver food to people living
there... These people lied to us...
whichcausedconfusion.Wehave
registeredanFIR,”Bilaspurrange
IG Dipanshu Kabra said.
Afterenforcingthequarantine
on March 30, the health depart-
ment started looking into those
living at the mosques. “One of
them had gone to Nizamuddin
markaz, but he tested negative.
But the child from that group
tested positive,” an official said.
The basti around the mosque
wheretheboywaslivingisheav-
ily populated.
The government has now
brought in drones to keep an eye
onthepeople.“Healthofficialsare
carrying out a door-to-door sur-
veyandtakingsamplesofanyone
withcontacthistorywithanyone
whowenttothemosque,”Korba
SP Abhishek Meena said.
The health department
Monday sent a four-member
teamtoKorbato“helpthedistrict
authorities and to plan effective
containment”.
flatten before
Sept: Punjab CM
KANCHAN VASDEV
CHANDIGARH, APRIL 14
PUNJAB CHIEF Minister
Amarinder Singh on Tuesday
said thathe was informedbyex-
perts that the COVID-19 curve
would flatten in India not before
the month of September and it
was not possible to keep people
in lockdown for so long.
Speaking to mediapersons
throughvideo-conference,Singh
said, “The curve will not be flat-
tened on May 3, till the lock-
downends.Expertstellmeitwill
be flattened in September. We
cannot keep the people in lock-
down till then. Butevenafter the
lockdownends,wewilltakepre-
cautions that the virus does not
spread exponentially.”
The CM said his government
hasalreadysoughtaspecialpack-
age,includingRs729croreforhos-
pitalupgradation,Rs550crorefor
settingupaninstituteforadvanced
virology,aswellasreleaseofpend-
ingGSTarrearsof Rs4,400crore.
recoveryrateassignificantlyflat-
ter than the case load.
On February 3, three cases
were confirmed; by February 17,
three cases in Kerala had recov-
ered. On March 15, there were
113 cases in the country; on that
day 13 people had recovered
and, two weeks later, on March
29, 95 had recovered. And on
March 29, there were 1,024
cases; two weeks later, this
Monday, the number of recov-
ered cases had reached 1,080.
The high recovery rate, how-
ever, does not take into account
the severity of the disease dur-
ing the recovery process.
The Indian Express had re-
ported on April 8 that mapping
the global number of COVID-19
patients who recovered largely
mimicstheglobalcaseload,with
a 14-day lag. However, since
then,theglobalrecoveryratehas
begun to fall flat, while cases
worldwide continue to grow ex-
ponentially.
In order to make the global
comparison, this examination
used data from the Johns
Hopkins University database.
When asked about the India
trends,SitabhraSinha,ascientist
at the Institute of Mathematical
extrapolateddatafrom14
dayslater.
Globally, there is consider-
able research on the mortality of
India: Cases and recovered COVID-19, there is less literature
to help understand the patterns
1500
1,251
of recovery.
There is no established re-
1000 1,181 covery time of COVID-19 pa-
tients. Early World Health
500 OrganisationreportsfromChina
in late February said mild cases
0 had a recovery time of roughly
Jan30 Mar30
two weeks, while people with
World: Cases and recovered severe cases could take between
three to six weeks to recover.
800000 7,82,389 In a WHO briefing in early
600000 March,itsexecutivedirectorsaid
4,48,655 a recovery is measured by a pa-
400000
tient no longer showing symp-
200000 toms and having two consecu-
tivenegativetestsfor the virusat
0
Jan30 Mar30 least one day apart.
However, countries measure
“recovery” differently.
SciencesinChennai,saiditaligns The WHO does not put out
withotherresearchshowingthe global recovery rates, and with-
mortality rate in India is lower out uniform methods of report-
than global rates, so far. ing recoveries, the number will
Sinhaexplainedthatif every- inevitably be an estimate, ac-
one who fell sick onDay 1 recov- cording to experts. “Recovered
ered14dayslater,thetwocurves cases outside China are esti-
wouldexactlyalign.Anydiscrep- mates based on local media re-
ancy between the two lines is ei- ports, and may be substantially
ther due to people who fell sick lower than the true number,”
and died, or people who recov- states the Johns Hopkins
ered earlier or later than the Dashboard.

4 patients die, 102

test positive in UP
Lucknow: In the worst 24 hours
sofarforUPsincethecoronavirus
outbreak, the mortality rate in
thestatecrossed1percent-mark
withthedeathof atleastfourpa-
tients. The state also witnessed
the steepest spike in number of
positivecases—102—takingthe
total number of infected
people to 660.
Among the four deaths on
Tuesday,twowerereportedfrom
Agra — both linked to a private
hospitalthathasbeensealednow
—andoneeachfromKanpurand
Moradabad, taking the death toll
in the state to nine. Among fresh
cases, the highest were reported
fromMoradabad(17),followedby
16 from Noida, and 14 from
Saharanpur. Principal Secretary
(Health)AmitMohanPrasadsaid
that almost all those who have
died werealreadysufferingfrom
serious health problems. ENS
In Mumbai, migrants lose hope, money: For how long, they ask
banktransferstotallingRs50,000
KAVITHAIYER to a transport company over
MUMBAI,APRIL14 Sunday and Monday, it emerged
that they had been defrauded.
EXCITEDATtheprospectofbeing “We visited the Rabale police
home well in time to see his son station on Monday evening, the
turn one on May 3, Manas Raut manisnowrefusingtorefundour
didn’t think too hard when a money,” said Bijaya Dehuri. “We
friend and fellow migrant from were not going to break any law,
Odisha said a transporter was thetransportersaidRs35,000was
willing to load 60 of them into a for getting official passes for each
bus and drop them in Dhenkanal passenger.Nowhe’srefusingtodo
district,over1,600kmawayfrom anything till we pay the rest, and
theirlittlerentedroomsinRabale, everyoneistellingusnosuchpass
Navi Mumbai. is available.”
For one, he felt, the lockdown Manas and Bijaya are among
couldendinotherstates—evenif at least 60 people from
Maharashtra and Odisha had al- Dhenkanal, including about 20
ready announced extensions — from a single village, living to-
andtheycouldgetclosertohome. gether in Rabale and working at
And then, there was the possibil- various factories in the nearby
ity that the Prime Minister could MIDC industrial complex.
announcetheirrepatriationwhen Working on welding, cutting,
headdressedthenationTuesday. moulding, dyeing and other ma-
However, after 60 Odia workers chine tools, the men earn be-
pooledinRs2,500eachandmade tween Rs 250 and Rs 450 a day,
prefers that to the uncertainty of
the prolonged lockdown and in-
abilitytobewithhisfamily.“That’s
why those who didn’t have cash
actually phoned home and got
money to pay for this bus ride
home,” he said.
Matadin Dhankar of Madhya
Pradesh’s Morena district, who
has now spent three weeks at a
Pimprigovernmentschoolturned
intoashelterformigrants,islosing
patience.“Thereisnonewsabout
uswhoarestuckhundredsofkilo-
Sanitising operations at Bandra in Mumbai. Prashant Nadkar metres from home, how long are
we to stay imprisoned? Weren’t
we supposed to be released to-
paid at the end of the month. ageing parents home, how long day?” asked the marble artisan.
“Thosewhohadworked20or can we be kept like this?” he He said that other problems
so days in March got paid, but asked, referring to the Prime have arisen at the shelter, includ-
moneyrunsoutfast,”saidManas, Minister’s speech on extending inginadequatefoodandthedaily
adding that the group had de- the lockdown till May 3. servingofkhichdito“roti-eaters”.
cided to put off paying rent and HisfarmlandinOdishaisrou- Bilal Khan of the Ghar Banao
were accepting packages of gro- tinely overrun by wild elephants, GharBachaoAandolansaidthose
ceries from a local volunteer. “All and two men were caught in a who stayed back face fresh chal-
of us have wives or children or rampage just days ago, but he lenges, including running out of
cash,havingtomakerentmoney,
inability to buy cooking fuel and
lackof accesstopotablewaterfor
cooking.“Theirdesperationisgo-
ing to rise after the Prime
Minister’s speech today,” he said.
Khan has been spending
morningsdistributingreliefmate-
rial including foodgrain and
cookedmealsinNaviMumbaiand
intheeasternsuburbsofMumbai.
ShwetaDamleofHabitatsand
LivelihoodWelfareAssociationhas
received three letters from mi-
grant workers over the past cou-
pleofdays,allurgingforinterven-
tion by the central and state
governments to undertake their
repatriation. “Every minute feels
like 24 hours,” said one signed by
Ramsnehi of UP. The letter bears
ten signatures, and says it would
beanactofcompassiontoarrange
tosendthemhome.
FULL REPORT ON
www.indianexpress.com
IMD to release 1st
stage monsoon
forecast today
Pune: India Meteorological
Department (IMD) will release
the first stage of Long Range
Forecast (LRF) for the upcoming
Southwest monsoon season on
Wednesday.
LRF is the operational fore-
cast issued by the Met office for
June to September for the whole
of India. The forecast, however,
does not include regional-level
rainfall or specify quantum rain-
fall for the forecast period.
LRF indicates probable rain-
fall over the country in terms of
Long Period Average (LPA), with
the countrywide LPA standing
setat89cmfortheseason,asper
rainfall data for 1951-2000.
Every year, IMD issues LRF in
two stages. The first stage fore-
castisissuedinAprilandthesec-
ond in June. ENS

New Delhi
 E EXPLAINED
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

7
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2020
@ieExplained
#ExpressExplained
The Outbreak If there are questions of current or contemporary relevance that you
would like explained, please write to explained@indianexpress.com

SIMPLY PUT QUESTION &ANSWER

CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK
YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED DAILY
Can unborn baby be infected?
Vertical transmission, or a mother infecting her foetus or newborn, is an emerging aspect of COVID-19.|
94,829
United Kingdom
130,694
Germany
159,516
Italy 61,049
A look at the available evidence worldwide so far, and ICMR’s recent guidelines to address this concern
Turkey

137,887
ABANTIKA GHOSH
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14 KNOWLEDGE, UPDATED
France
83,306 AFTERSEVERALmonthsof the worldbeliev- FEBRUARY: Researchers from Wuhan
584,073 China
ing that a pregnant woman cannot transmit University report there is no evidence
US
novel coronavirus infection to her unborn for intrauterine infection caused by
74,877 baby,evidencehasbeenemergingtosuggest vertical transmission in women who
172,541 Iran
that this can indeed happen. Earlier this develop COVID-19 pneumonia in late
Spain
week,theIndianCouncilof MedicalResearch pregnancy. Days later, researchers
31,119 (ICMR) laid down the need for healthcare from the same university report a case
Belgium
workers and obstetricians to factor in the of a baby born with COVID-19.
TOTAL CONFIRMED: 1,945,055 DEATH COUNT: 1,21,897 consequences of the “probable” vertical
transmission of COVID-19 (the disease MARCH: Newborn in England tests
Source: Johns Hopkins University, updated at 11:00 pm on April 14 caused by the novel coronavirus) and take positive; not clear whether infection
precautions accordingly. happened via vertical transmission or
from another source after birth.
What is vertical transmission?
Can gargling with salt water Vertical transmission refers to the trans-
mission of an infection from a pregnant
APRIL: In India, a woman who had
tested positive for COVID-19 delivers

prevent an infection? woman to her child. It can be antenatal (be-

fore birth), perinatal (weeks immediately Getty Images
baby who tests negative.

ANURADHA MASCARENHAS
CAN MAINTAINING throat hygiene
preventCOVID-19infection?Whileit
is hygienic to keep the nose, mouth
andthroatclear,medicalexpertsnote
that there is no scientific evidence
that these can prevent infection.
“Simple measures like drinking
plenty of normal or lukewarm water
—plainwaterorsaltwatergarglesand
a few minutes of steam inhalation at
bedtimeareancienttraditionalhouse-
holdmethods,butthepublicneedsto
beremindedtokeepthemselvessafe,”
said Dr Arvind Chopra, who practises
at the Centre for Rheumatology in
Pune. Dr Chopra, who chairs a clinical
trialgroupledbytheAYUSH Ministry,
has written to the Prime Minister for
inclusion of these simple measures in
daily health campaigns.
Dr Srinath Reddy, president of the
Public Health Foundation of India,
noted that there is no scientifically
proven evidence yet that such meas-
uresworkagainstthevirus.“However,
this is a respiratory virus that works
through the nose to the sinuses and
into the throat and into airways and
INDIA COUNT: 10,815 (353 DEATHS)
TOP 10 STATES
1510 Delhi
657 UP
879 Rajasthan
730 MP
617 Gujarat
2337 Maharashtra
473 Andhra Pradesh
624
Telangana 1173 Tamil Nadu
379 Kerala
lungs. So basically, apart from hand-
washing and not carrying the virus to
the face, there is nothing wrong in
drinkingwarm water or trying steam
inhalation. There is no immediate
proof, but potentially there may be
somebenefitand,anyway,thereisno
harm in trying it,” Dr Reddy said.
ExpertsattheNationalInstituteof
Virology said these are timely meas-
ures but cannot be looked at as a pre-
ventive against the virus.
In its advisories, the World Health
Organization has pointed out that
there is some limited evidence that
regularly rinsing the nose with saline
canhelppeoplerecovermore quickly
from the common cold. However it
has not been shown to prevent respi-
ratory infections. Gargling is a com-
mon hygiene measures in several
countriesandisroutinelyencouraged
with other practices like handwash-
ing and social distancing during the
regular flu season.
Gargling can help soothe a sore
throat but there is no evidence that
the practice will prevent the virus
from entering one’s lungs, according
to the Harvard T H Chan School of
Public Health.
REST OF INDIA
AndamanandNicobarIslands 11
ArunachalPradesh
Assam
Bihar
Chandigarh
Chhattisgarh
Goa
Haryana
HimachalPradesh
JammuandKashmir
Jharkhand
Karnataka
Ladakh
Manipur
Meghalaya
Mizoram
Nagaland
Odisha
Puducherry
Punjab
Tripura
Uttarakhand
WestBengal
priortoorafterbirth)orpostnatal(afterbirth).
Thisisof graveconcernnotjustbecauseitcan
potentially cause a newborn to be very sick,
but also because the mechanism of how and
whenthishappensisnotalwaysveryclear.In
a 2017 review article in the journal Cell Host
Microbe, scientists from the University of
Pittsburgh wrote: “Despite the devastating
impact of microbial infections on the devel-
oping fetus, relatively little is known about
how pathogens associated with congenital
diseasebreachtheplacentalbarriertotransit
vertically during human pregnancy.”
Amonginfectionsof whichverticaltrans-
mission has been known to happen are HIV,
Zika,rubellaandtheherpesvirus.Infact,one
of the biggest worries about the Zika out-
break a couple of years ago was the possibil-
ity of babies being born with birth defects.
What has ICMR said?
ICMR has issued a Guidance for
Managementof PregnantWomeninCOVID-
19Pandemic.It says:“Withregard tovertical
transmission (transmission from mother to
baby antenatally or intrapartum), emerging
evidence now suggests that vertical trans-
missionisprobable,although theproportion
of pregnancies affected and the significance
to the neonate has yet to be determined.”
Theguidelinesdealwiththeprotocolthat
healthworkersneedtofollow rightfromno-
tification of cases, antenatal and postnatal
carethatneedstobegiventothemotherand
baby, and the use of appropriate personal
Positive cases among tests: trends, and an outlier
1
31
66
21
31
199
7 KARISHMA MEHROTRA
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14
32
270
AMONG THE measures for assessing the
24
258 spread of an infection, one is test positivity
15 rate — the proportion of positive cases
2
among all tests done. It is taken to be a use-
1
1 ful indicator if a substantial section of sus-
1 2%
pected cases has been tested.
55
7
FromdataontestsforCOVID-19andposi-
tive cases between March 18 and April 13, it
176
2 emerges that the test positivity rate in India
35 has been between 1.1% and 4.3% (ratios based
190
oncumulativecountsuntilanydate).OnApril
protective equipment, so that there is no of our knowledge about the novel coron- flammation and liver injury indirectly sup-
transmission of the infection from the avirus (SARS-CoV2). On February 12, re- port the possibility of vertical transmission,”
mother to health staff attending to her, es- searchers from Wuhan University looked at the researchers reported.
peciallyduringlabourwhenchancesarevery nine pregnant women and came to the con- There areotherinstances too. Lastmonth
high of the baby and the staff coming in con- clusion in an article in The Lancet: “The clin- a baby born to a COVID-19-positive mother
tact with her body fluids. ical characteristics of COVID-19 pneumonia at the North Middlesex hospital in Enfield,
Italsofollows internationalnormsin rec- inpregnantwomenweresimilartothosere- had tested positive immediately after birth.
ommendingthatthebabyshouldbeisolated ported for non-pregnant adult patients who Though doctors there were uncertain
after birth, highlighting the lack of enough developed COVID-19 pneumonia. Findings whether the infection actually was a result
scientific knowledge about the chances of a from this small group of cases suggest that of vertical transmission or whether the baby
COVID-19-affected babydevelopingcompli- there is currently no evidence for intrauter- had caught it after birth from somewhere
cations. “It is unknown whether new-borns ine infectioncausedbyverticaltransmission else, NHS now says: “As this is a very new
with COVID-19 are at increased risk for se- in women who develop COVID-19 pneumo- virus we are just beginning to learn about it.
vere complications. Transmission after birth nia in late pregnancy.” There is no evidence to suggest an increased
via contactwith infectiousrespiratorysecre- Ten days later, something happened that risk of miscarriage. With regard to vertical
tions is a concern. Facilities should consider changed the understanding of COVID-19 in transmission (transmission from mother to
temporarilyseparating (e.g. separate rooms) the context of vertical transmission. baby) the evidence now suggest that trans-
the mother who has confirmed COVID-19 or BORN POSITIVE: Another group of re- mission is probable, although there has only
is a PUI (person under investigation), from searchers from thesame university reported been a single case reported. The significance
her baby until the mother’s transmission- in the Journal of the American Medical to the neonate is not yet known and we will
based precautions are discontinued,” says Associationthecaseof awomanwithCOVID- continue to assess and monitor the situation
the ICMR document. 19 who delivered a baby girl on February 22 for women and babies.”
Incidentally on April 3, days before this at Renmin Hospital, Wuhan. The baby was US VIEW: The US Centers for Disease
documentcameout,India’sfirstbabybornto found positive both for the virus and anti- Control and Prevention though still does not
a COVID-19-positive woman had been de- bodies against it soon after birth. It was the subscribetotheverticaltransmissionschool.
livered in AIIMS. He is COVID-19-negative. presence of the latter that led researchers to It maintains: “Mother-to-child transmission
The baby’s father, who is a resident doctor in believe that the infection happened in utero. of coronavirus during pregnancy is unlikely,
AIIMS, and his mother both had tested pos- “The elevated IgM antibody level suggests but after birth a newborn is susceptible to
itive for the disease. that the neonate was infected in utero. IgM person-to-personspread.Averysmallnum-
antibodiesarenottransferredtothefetusvia berof babieshavetestedpositiveforthevirus
What is the available scientific evidence the placenta. The infant potentially could shortly after birth. However, it is unknown if
on vertical transmission? havebeenexposedfor 23 daysfromthetime thesebabiesgotthevirusbeforeorafterbirth.
The science of whether there is vertical of the mother’s diagnosis of COVID-19 to de- The virus has not been detected in amniotic
transmission is evolving, much like the rest livery. The laboratory results displaying in- fluid,breastmilk,orothermaternalsamples.”
5%
TEST POSTIVITY RATE 2,50,000
TESTS & POSITIVE CASES, COUNTS
2,17,554
4% 2,00,000
■ Positive/total
3%
tests(in%) 4.29% ■ Totaltests
1,50,000
■ Positivecases
4.68%
1,00,000
9,341
1% 50,000
0% 0
March18
March20
March22
March24
March26
March28
March30
April1
April3
April5
April7
April9
April11
April13

March18
March20
March22
March24
March26
March28
March30
April1
April3
April5
April7
April9
April11
April13

Union Health Ministry update as of 11 pm, April 14. Some states may have 9, the Indian Council of Medical Research
reported higher numbers. Only states with the most cases are listed above. (ICMR)saidthepositivityratehadnotchanged
1190 PATIENTS DISCHARGED IN 26 STATES ACROSS THE COUNTRY substantiallyoverthelastonetotwomonths, Based on cumulative counts for tests and positive cases, the ratio between the two (in %) and the absolute counts.
maintaining between 3% and 5%.
Inanoutlier,theratewas4.68%onApril3.
Have a question on the COVID-19 outbreak and what you should/should not do?
That day, The Indian Express reported the remained around 4% — meaning about two the five preceding days. “If we are testing that it suddenly goes up, that’s something
Write to explained@indianexpress.com Tablighi Jamaat congregation in Delhi ac- in every 50 tests is positive. more and the positivity rate remains the that could be worrisome,” Tarun Bhatnagar,
counted for one-fifth of the COVID-19 posi- Over 21,000 tests were conducted on same, it’s a clue that the infection is where it a scientist at ICMR and National Institute of
tivecasesnationwide.Sincethen,theratehas April 13, and between 16,000 and 17,000 on was and is not expanding per se. If you see Epidemiology, Chennai, said last week.

AN EXPERT EXPLAINS

Cyber frauds trying new ways, it’s important to secure data, accounts
R K Vij
THE COVID-19 outbreak presents a global
challenge not just for the medical fraternity
and society, but for law enforcement agen-
cies also. Cyber crime, like a pandemic,
knows no state borders. A few people are
attempting novel ways of defrauding inno-
cents using information and technology.
Money is being siphoned off using fake ac-
countsandexploitingvulnerabilitiesof var-
ious applications.
On March 29, the DCP Cyber Crime,
Delhi’s official Twitter account alerted citi-
zens about a fake UPI (Unified Payments
Interface) ID of the PM CARES Fund, pm-
care@sbi - the correct UPI ID to donate for
coronavirus victims is pmcares@sbi. The
Delhi police took suo motu cognisance of
the fraud, registered an offence of cheating
under sections 419 and 420 of IPC, and
blocked this and a number of other similar
accounts. The number of persons cheated
and amount defrauded can only be known
when the investigation is over.
UPI and related frauds
UPI is a real-time payment system de-
veloped by National Payments Corporation
of India for inter-bank transactions. The in-
terface is regulated by the Reserve Bank of
Indiaandinstantlytransfersfundsbetween
two bank accounts on a mobile platform.
The NPCI keeps record of all the accounts
and transactions.
It is very easy to create an account using
the UPI platform. One just needs an ID that
could be even one’s mobile number or
name, and a four-digit PIN. The offence
highlighted by the DCP, in fact, has nothing
to do with the security of UPI as such. It is
phishing, in which the offender creates a
similar-looking ID to deceive users.
Within the limits set by each bank, any
amount can be exchanged instantly using
suchapps,andthedefraudedamountcould
be huge. Second, the imposter can imme-
diately withdraw the amount and flee, as
thereisnocaveatonwithdrawal.Also,if the
bankhasnotdonetheKnowYourCustomer
(KYC) process thoroughly, nabbing the cul-
prit may become difficult.
It is important to verify the destination
UPI ID from authentic sources before mak-
inganytransaction.If amobilephonewitha
UPI-enabledappisstolen,itmustbeblocked
and the bank intimated before it could be
misused.BanksalsomustadheretotheKYC
guidelines issued by the RBI, so that the ad-
dressofeachcustomerischeckedphysically.
Facebook fraud
Facebook is often used for fraud. If the
privacy settings are not consciously set to
protect an account, it is always susceptible
to hacking. Most users don’t change the de-
fault settings and keep them ‘public’. This
makes it very easy for a cyber criminal to
download a profile photo and create a fake
account. Sometimes, people also exchange uninvitedguestscan also joinameetingand sured through VPN or other options.
their bank account details, mobile number gain access to sensitive information.
and other sensitive information on The chief executive of Zoom apologised Interpol’s advisory
Facebook. Further, if the password on for “falling short” on security issues includ- Inguidelinesforlaw-enforcementagen-
Facebook is weak, it can easily be cracked ing sharing user data to Facebook and cies on March 26, Interpol warned about
and the account hacked. wrongly claiming end-to-end encryption the emerging trend of false or misleading
Cases of fake Facebook accounts are be- etc, and promised to address concerns. advertisements about medical products,
ingreportedwheremoneyhasbeenfraudu- When one uses Zoom, it seeks permis- setting up of fraudulent e-commerce plat-
lently asked for the treatment of alleged pa-
tientsbyhackingtheiraccounts.Itistherefore,
sion for accessing the user’s microphone,
web-cam and data storage. This can result
forms, phishing etc during the pandemic.
Ithasrecommended,interalia,thatpeo-
best,tokeeptheprivacysettingsat‘Onlyme’ in hijacking and loss of private data. Users ple avoid opening suspicious emails and
or ‘Friends’ and not to share sensitive infor- may also experience ‘Zoomraiding’ or clicking links in unrecognised emails and
mation on social media. Privacy settings can ‘Zoombombing’ in which hate speech, attachments; back up files regularly; use
also be changed for every post and photo. pornography or other content is suddenly strong passwords; keep software updated;
flashed by disrupting a video call on Zoom. and manage social media settings and re-
Loss of confidentiality The Computer Emergency Response view privacy/security settings. Cyber ex-
The lockdown has forced many to work Team-India (CERT-In) circulated a ‘vulner- pertsalsorecommendtheuseof ‘https’pro-
from home. Unless the organisation has its ability note’ on February 6, giving Zoom a tocol for secure financial transactions.
owninfrastructureandusesVPN(virtualpri- ‘medium’ security rating. In case you become a victim, report it to
vatenetwork)foraccessingitsresources,the Therefore, it is important to be cautious thepoliceimmediately.Thesearecomputer-
use of public platforms may result in loss of while using such free apps for confidential related wrongs covered under the IT Act,
confidentialdata.Recently,thepopularvideo- meetings, or to use organisational infra- 2000, liable for penalty and compensation,
conferencingappZoom,whichcanaddupto structureforsuchmeetings.Thepublicnet- and criminal liability in appropriate cases.
100 participants in a call, has come across as work can still be used for accessing critical
vulnerable. As the meeting ID can be shared applications, provided authentication, ac- R K Vij is a senior IPS officer in Chhattisgarh.
throughalink,onscreenandothermediums; cess control and integrity of data are en- Views are personal..

New Delhi
 WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM

8
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2020
WORDLY WISE

THE EDITORIAL PAGE

Whenever I run out of people to write
about, I cook up a few ghosts, or they
appear before me. — RUSKIN BOND

FOUNDED BY
Keep your powder dry
§

§
RAMNATH GOENKA
Corona crisis calls for Centre to spend. But it must fix an
BECAUSE THE TRUTH INVOLVES US ALL
upper bound for fiscal deficit, operate within it

LOCKDOWN 2.0 Duvvuri Subbarao

PM is right to invoke We, the People. But there isn’t one people.
IN SOPHIE’S CHOICE, the much acclaimed weeks of stepping into his shoes,I was called by printing money. Even the staunchest ad-
Hapless migrants, poor, need help; compassion isn’t policy 1982 movie, Sophie, a Polish Jew, had to upon to cut rates, and that too sharply, to vocates of financial stability are agreed that

W
choose which of her two children will go the
HEN PRIME MINISTER Narendra Modi addressed the nation again gas chamber and which to a labour camp.
Tuesday morning, he was talking to a people in the largest lockdown Like Sophie, governments battling the coro-
in the world, also among the most stringent and with a safety net navirus are having to make a gut wrenching
most thin. Twenty-one days ago, he had spoken to them about its choicebetweensavinglivesandsavingliveli-
necessity to defeat the spread of the virus. On Tuesday, he reiterated that imperative as hoods. Stringent lockdowns restrain the
spread of the disease but that comes at the
he extended the lockdown until May 3. Once again, he acknowledged and exhorted “the
costof peoplelosinglivelihoodsaseconomic
people”,speakingof their“tapasya”,“tyag”and“agnipariksha”,penance,austerityandsac- activity shuts down. And if governments try
rifice, for the collective good, and holding out the possibility of easing the restrictions in to contain the loss of economic activity, they
areas where they continue to be disciplined. The extension of the lockdown may well risk losing lives to the virus.
have been inevitable — it remains the only known public-policy instrument to slow the Thisdilemmaisarguablythesharpestfor
pandemic; several states had already announced their own decisions to prolong it; and India. Because of our high population den-
sityandpoormedicalinfrastructure,anylax-
Tuesday was also the day India crossed the 10,000 COVID cases mark amid reports of
ity in prevention can result in a huge health
more districts brought into the widening circle of the infected. Yet, as the people tuned disaster. On the other hand, an extended
in to the prime minister, something was missing — and troubling. lockdown will force millions into the mar-
The war against the virus must, indeed, be fought in multiple arenas — and not just by gins of subsistence, push small and large
government.Itisalsotruethatcommunityvigilanceandsolidarityarepotentweaponsin firms alike into bankruptcy, seriously impair
it. The PM was rightto underline thepower of “We, the People”.At the sametime,this cri- financial stability and land us in a humani-
tarian and economic disaster.
sis illuminates, in a stark and undeniable manner, that “the people” are not one. Their suf-
Soonafterthelockdown,thegovernment
fering and, therefore, their concerns and needs are different. A lockdown in an apartment announcedarelief packageamountingto0.8
complex in Gurgaon is different from the one in Dharavi which is different from the one per cent of GDP to support the livelihoods of
where those locked down are migrants who have lost their jobs, and are stranded in the rural poor and the urban informal sector,
makeshift shelters, away from their families and homes. It would be unseeing, and more and that’s been criticised as being too little.
than that, unjust, to claim or project otherwise. It is not just that their inequalities cannot From a study of a sample of countries, the
latest issue of The Economist reports that
be elided when speakingof thepeople, ortothem.Itis also that,inthis crisis, the “people”
India’s lockdown has been the most strin-
cannotbetheonlyones,ormostlytheones,whohavethetaskcutoutforthem—tobedis-
gent while its fiscal relief package is the
ciplined and compassionate. While the exhortation to compassion is unexceptionable in smallest in proportion to GDP.
itself, it can have two disturbing implications — it presumes that those who are in need of
A possible explanation for the govern-
help, need benevolence, not what is surely their entitlement as rights-bearing citizens. ment’s timid fiscal response may be the fear
And two, the emphasis on citizens’ duties can lessen the urgency of a policy response. of spooking the market. For years, every
To be sure, in his Tuesday address, the PM said that the daily wagers and the poor economistandanalysthasbeenwarningthe
government of the dire consequences of fis-
were his “highest priority”. Over the next few days, the Centre and the states need to ad-
cal irresponsibility, and the message must
dress the concerns of those who, as in Surat and in Bandra, came out on the streets against have been so hardwired into the govern-
a lockdown that has clamped down on their earnings and keeps them away from their ment’s collective mind that it was unable to
loved ones. Hopefully, this necessary and blunt instrument in the fight against the coro- get over the mental overhang.
navirus will be made more sensitive to their plight, by including financial relief and a cal- I can quite relate to that. Just two months
before I took office as governor of the RBI,
ibrated resumption of economic activity. For, the health and well-being of the most vul-
Y V Reddy, my predecessor, was raising in-
nerableholdsthekeytohowsecurethenationis—thisisn’tjustgoodpolicy,inapandemic,
terest rates to fight inflation. But within
it is good science as well.
Many analysts have
estimated that just the loss
of revenue due to the
economic shutdown will
take the combined fiscal
deficit of the Centre and
states beyond 10 per cent of
GDP. The borrow and spend
programme will be on top of
this. Unlike rich countries
which can throw the kitchen
sink at the crisis, we can’t
afford to ignore the risks of
fiscal excess of that
magnitude, no matter the
compelling circumstances.
There will be a heavy price to
pay down the road by way of
inflation and exchange rate
volatility.
fight the global financial crisis. The sharp re-
versal of mindset proved to be a challenge
even for an intellectually agile RBI.
Uncertainty is a defining feature of every
crisis. During the global financial crisis, a big
uncertainty around the world was about
how much risk there was in the system,
where it lay and who was bearing it. There
were big uncertainties at home too. Just to
give one example, in the thick of the crisis,
we were asserting that our banks were safe
and sound even as storied institutions
around the world were collapsing day after
day. In the midst of that carnage, we were
uncertain about how much markets would
trust our assertion and for how long they
would continue to do so.
The uncertainty of the corona crisis is
much deeper. There are far too many known
unknowns not to speak of unknown un-
knowns. We just don’t know enough about
the effectiveness of the lockdowns, the age
and gender profile of susceptibility to the
virus, the process of recovery, the tipping
point if any for mass immunity, whether the
virus will attack in waves, and most impor-
tantly, when we might have a vaccine and a
cure. Governments are, for the large part,
having to fly blind.
Managingthetradeoff betweenlivesand
livelihoods in the face of this huge uncer-
tainty must have weighed heavily on the
government’s mind as it decided to extend
the lockdown until May 3. There are many
issues to be decided and planned on the way
forward. A big issue will be an expenditure
plan for relief during the crisis and stimulus
after some normalcy is restored.
Even the most ardent fiscal hawks are
now agreed that the government needs to
abandon its fiscal reticence, and borrow
more and spend more. Even the most ex-
treme monetary purists are agreed that the
RBI should fund the government borrowing
more regulatory forbearance is necessary.
And virtually everyone is agreed on where
additional spending should be directed.
There is disagreement, though, on how
much additionally the government should
borrow. One view is that the government
should err on the side of taking a fiscal risk
without any preset fiscal deficit number. It
should simply determine what needs to be
done and borrow to that extent, acting as if
there were no fiscal constraint at all. In other
words, act as per the diktat of the now fa-
mous three words — “whatever it takes”.
An opposing view — and one to which I
subscribe — is “whatever it takes” is not an
option for India. Many analysts have esti-
matedthatjustthelossof revenueduetothe
economic shutdown will take the combined
fiscal deficit of the Centre and states beyond
10 per cent of GDP. The borrow and spend
programmewill be on top of this. Unlike rich
countries which can throw the kitchen sink
atthecrisis,wecan’taffordtoignoretherisks
of fiscal excess of that magnitude, no matter
the compelling circumstances. There will be
aheavyprice topay down the road by way of
inflation and exchange rate volatility.
Besides, as Urjit Patel wrote in this news-
paper a few days ago, it’s important to keep
the powder dry should there be another
wave of the virus later in the year. It will be
advisable for the government to fix an up-
per bound for fiscal deficit and operate
within that. A WhatsApp group of analysts
of which I am a part has estimated after
some light research that for now the borrow
and spend programme should be restricted
to 2 per cent of GDP. I endorse that as a work-
ing target for now.
As The Economist said, to be hard-headed
is not necessarily being hard-hearted.
The writer is a former governor of the
Reserve Bank of India

THE FISCAL CHALLENGE

Alongside further rate cuts, RBI needs to adopt and expand
unconventional measures to tackle crisis
A UPI MODEL FOR HEALTH
O
NMONDAY,DATAreleasedbytheNationalStatisticalOffice(NSO)showedthat
India is not making full use of its digital capabilities to track COVID-19 cases
headline retail inflation, as measured by the consumer price index, fell to a
four-monthlowof5.9percentinMarch,downfrom6.58percentinFebruary.
Much of this decline has been due to a moderation in food prices — the con-
Naman Pugalia
sumer food price index fell from 10.81 per cent in February to 8.76 per cent in March.
However, it is likely that the imposition of the lockdown — it has now been extended till THE PRINCIPLES THAT have propelled two
May 3 — will exert upward pressure on food prices in April due to supply chain constraints domestic digital payments’ platforms also
andhouseholdshoardingof foodsupplies.Thisexpectedsurgeinfoodinflation,whiletem- offer India an opportunity to show how the
porary, is unlikely to be offset by lower international crude oil prices. Notwithstanding the tracing of COVID-19 cases can be done at
scale and with greater speed. The JAM (Jan
agreementbetweenSaudiArabiaandRussiatocutoilproduction,crudeoilpricesarelikely
Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile) trinity for DBTs
to remain subdued as global oil demand has collapsed. But, lower international crude oil (Direct Benefit Transfers) and UPI (Unified
prices are unlikely to translate to lower retail petrol and diesel prices in India as both cen- Payments Interface) have made India a tech-
tral and state governments will use this opportunity to raise taxes to shore up their rev- nology leader in money transfers. The for-
enues. This implies that headline retail inflation is likely to remain elevated temporarily. mer has lent efficiency to the transfer of
The next meeting of the monetary policy committee is scheduled to be held in early funds to the needy. It was drafted into action
June by which time some data on the initial impact of the lockdown on the economy will recently to channel payments to the more
vulnerable who need help in dealing with
be available. Given the widespread disruption in economic activity, there is a strong case
the adverse economic consequences of the
for the MPC to continue to look through this expected surge in inflation. The overriding lockdown. The latter is emerging as a trans-
concern of the MPC should be to arrest the economic fallout of the coronavirus. And as action vehicle of choice for all retail pay-
transmission of rate cuts to the broader economy occur with a lag, it is preferable that ments. In March, 148 banks were on the UPI
the MPC frontload the rate cuts. platform, helping process over 120 crore
AsGovernorShaktikantaDashasemphasisedinthepast,theRBIshouldalsoexpandits transactions worth over Rs 2 lakh crore.
The success of India’s Aarogya Setu mo-
useofunconventionalpolicymeasurestotacklethiscrisis.Itshouldinjectmoreliquidityinto
bile application will depend on its wide-
the system, expand the scope of the targeted long-term repo operations (LTROs) to facili- spread adoption. The app, like other similar
tate credit flow beyond the investment grade companies, announce more forbearance products, relies on bluetooth technology to
measures, and extend NPA recognition norms. However, given the scale of the disruption, map and deconstruct the contact history of
the RBI alone cannot be expected to do the heavy lifting. More fiscal support is needed. individuals who may have come in contact
with potential carriers of the coronavirus. If
two individuals are at the same place at the
SPOOK VS VIRUS
same time, their apps can exchange infor-
mation (up to a maximum distance of about
15feet)withouttheserverknowinganything
about it. Further, the app notifies users and
An Indonesian village is determined to win against the authorities of individuals who are at risk.
Some privacy safeguards have been put in
coronavirus, by fair means or ghostly place to ensure that individuals do not share
As Nandan Nilekani has
underlined earlier, app
downloads in India are
perhaps the most expensive
compared to any other
developed or fast-developing
nation, despite the falling
cost of data, since Indian
users pass potential
downloads through several
filters such as required
storage space, the potential
impact on battery and data
usage. Given India’s open
internet, several publishers
from across industries and
geographies are vying for
smartphone real estate. In
such a situation, drawing
public scrutiny with the aim of further bol-
stering privacy standards.
The distribution of the detection frame-
work necessitates a rethink, beyond an app.
Given the numbers we deal with, the gov-
ernmentandits agencieshavebeengoingall
out to push downloads. As Nandan Nilekani
has underlined earlier, app downloads in
India are perhaps the most expensive com-
pared to any other developed or fast-devel-
oping nation, despite the falling cost of data,
since Indian users pass potential downloads
through several filters such as required stor-
age space, the potential impact on battery
and data usage. Given India’s open internet,
severalpublishersfromacrossindustriesand
geographies are vying for smartphone real
estate. In such a situation, drawing attention
to particular use-cases (howsoever urgent)
is challenging.
An alternative strategy that we can pur-
sue is delinking the technology we want to
use for tracing (the backend) from the chan-
nels (the front end). A fine-tuned backend
can be pushed to, and used by, publishers
(other apps) who already have the reach.
This is akin to the UPI being used by several
banks and technology firms for payment.
The government did build its frontend in the
form of the BHIM (Bharat Interface for
Money) app but mostly for signalling pur-
poses. In the current context, the govern-
ment can consider using its own app for
tracing and for additional use-cases such as
like JAM will likely increase the incentive for
people to embrace it.
Another area where improvisations are
called for is the tooling for tracking. While
reports have indicated that the developers
are using bluetooth for tracing and are also
capturing GPS coordinates, both users and
device manufacturers limit their usage of
these technologies in favour of other opti-
misations. Users are concerned with both
data and battery usage while device manu-
facturers kill background jobs even if the
publishers have sought and secured permis-
sions from users. These tendencies are pro-
nounced on Android, the dominant mobile
operating system in India. In such a scenario,
developers ought to think about using other
techniques. For instance, using cell tower
data and WiFi identifiers to bolster tracing
efforts. This is especially important in a con-
text where only a third of our population has
smartphones and even fewer people have
devices with bluetooth capability. Even the
recently announced Google-Apple
partnership may not have meaningful re-
sults in this setting.
With the potential ramifications of
COVID-19’s spread in India and across the
globe, the nation’s recent history of techno-
logicalsuccessesandagovernmentcommit-
ted to agile governance, the pandemic pres-
ents an opportunity for the country to show
its people and the world how technology is
a force of good.

T
personally identifiable information with passes and approvals for movement when
HE WALKING DEAD is a bit of an old hand in apocalyptic pop culture. They attention to particular use-
each other but only with authorities — that the lockdown is gradually eased out. It could The writer is founder, WalkIn. He previously
glide or stomp through horror films and zombie series, terrorising innocent too, in select cases. A confidence-building cases (howsoever urgent) is even host other health-related features. co-founded, FourthLion Technologies, a
communities, leaving mayhem and destruction in their wake. Except now, measure would be to release the code for challenging. Expanding its ambit and making it a conduit political campaign planner
in Indonesia’s Kepuh village, scaring someone witless has a purpose — pub-
lic service in the times of a global pandemic. Youth groups in this Javan village have col-
laborated with the local police to employ a cast of people to dress up as pocong — other-
worldly creatures wrappedupinshrouds, believed torepresent trappedsouls of the dead
— and patrol the streets, creeping out unsuspecting passers-by and compelling them to APRIL 15, 1980, FORTY YEARS AGO
return home. In Indonesia, which has recorded one of the highest rates of COVID-19
deathsin Asia,butwherenonationwidelockdownhasbeenannouncedyet,these unique ASSAM TENSE will assemble in Gauhati for their executive most certain that a broad understanding, so
individual public awareness services hope to act as a deterrent, alerting people to the ASSAMISUNUSUALLYquiet.Noprocessions, meeting on April 18. far as facing the assembly elections in nine
dangers of contagion and the merits of complete social isolation. no slogans, no satyagraha except ritualistic states, will emerge at the meeting.
picketing at the Narengi installations. The BROAD CONSENSUS
GhostshavebeenintegraltoIndonesia’sculturalinheritance.Itsfolkloreisrifewithref-
erences to spirits - tuyul (child spirit), kuntilanak (the ghost of a pregnant woman), sundel
barricade outside the deputy commis- AN INFORMAL CONCLAVE of top leaders of INDIRA ATTACKED
sioner’s office in Gauhati is gone and even the major political parties will be held in PRIME MINISTER INDIRA Gandhi escaped
bolong (ghost with the long hair), Suster Ngesot (the sliding nurse) live on in the supersti- the students union office, a centre of activity Bombay on April 21 to assess the current po- unhurt when a spring-actuated knife with a
tionsofitspeople,refreshedeversooftenbytheirreincarnationsintop-grossingmoviessuch for the past seven months, wears a dull look. litical situation and, in that context, the rel- rustedfour-inchbladewasflungatherwhile
as director Joko Anwar’s Satan’s Slaves (2017) or Awi Suryadi’s Danur 3: Sunyaruri (2019). It may well be a lull before the storm. The evance of offering a united challenge to the she was walking to her car after garlanding
Piling on the spooks in these surreal times could act as a cautionary tale, a compendium people appear to be waiting for a word not “growing trends of authoritarianism”. The B R Ambedkar’s statue in the Parliament
from Indira Gandhi, who has formally con- conclave,forwhichenoughgroundworkhas House garden. The alleged assailant, Ram
of retribution for those in denial. The initial surprise — that drew in a crowd to observe these
veyed to the agitation organisers that 1971 been prepared over the last few days, is ex- BulchandLalwani,37,wasimmediatelyover-
mysterious visitations — has worn off now in Kepuh, replaced by an age-old wariness about is a starting point to assessthe size of the for- pected to seriously examine the possibility poweredby security staff. According to the
spirits, making the administration declare their ploy to be rather successful. Local adminis- eigners problem. Most student leaders have of uniting various opposition groups to face police, the knife grazed the shoulder of a se-
trationsinotherpartsof theworld,too,haveappealedtothefearfactor. Afterall,inthislock- spread out to different parts of the state to the Congress (I). Though nothing significant curity staff sub-inspector and narrowly
downage,whatcouldbescarierthanafacelessenemyholdingswayoverthegreatoutdoors? discuss the next step at the grass roots and is likely to emerge from this meeting, it is al- missed the prime minister.

New Delhi

9
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2020
THE IDEAS PAGE
Life after pandemic, a list of 10
Someof thepracticesadoptedandavoidedwhilefightingCOVID-19willbecomepartof thenewnormal
Derek O’Brien
THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC is changing us as
individuals and as a society. The implications
will be far-reaching and some of them are
still beyond our comprehension. But some
practices we have either adopted or avoided
in the past few days will become part of this
new normal.
Here are 10 examples from everyday life.
They are a combination of my observations
and my tentative hopes.
One, public hygiene will get better.
Spittinginpublicshouldstop.Itisthemother
of all droplet infections. Authorities are dis-
couraging and warning against such prac-
tices as part of the COVID-19 response and
people are desisting from spitting much
more consciously. In the days ahead, politi-
cal, community and religious leaders should
condemnpublicspittinganddiscreditit.This
isanopportunitytoexilethisfilthyhabitfrom
India for good.
Two, #WFH will become more than just
a hashtag. Work from home offers many ad-
vantages to white-collar professionals and
companies in the services sector. If so many
of us — but admittedly not all of us — have
found it possible to work from home in the
pastthreeweeks,thenwhynotatothertimes
aswell?Thatquestionwillseriouslybeasked
as individuals and families strive to improve
work-life balance. Companies could reduce
overheadsandfinditconvenientandcheaper
to give employees a good laptop, high-speed
internet accessand areliable,paid-forvideo-
conferencing account.
Three, daily commute patterns will
change. As an add-on to point two (above),
people will become more and more aware of
the uselessness of a long daily commute or a
flight to another city for just a single meet-
ing of an hour or two; or for a 10-minute
hearing in court. People will think twice or
even thrice before agreeing to get on an air-
plane.
More and more meetings — even board
meetings of blue-chip corporations — will
take place on platforms such as Zoom. The
government and judiciary should also be
open to such innovations. Driving less and
flying less will be eco-friendly and reduce
one’s carbon footprint.
Four, social media will not automatically
equal idle gossip and silly jokes: Political de-
bates on family WhatsApp groups, humour
in the middle of the day from a school
WhatsApp group, an endless stream of
memes and gifs popping up on one’s cell-
phone. All this is so BC (Before Coronavirus).
The bulk of my social media messages in the
past few weeks have been serious — about
the pandemic and its course.
WhatsAppcommunitiesandpublic-serv-
ice message groups have sprung up in cities
andneighbourhoods.Theyhavefoundapur-
posebeyondgossip.Someof thiswillsurvive
into the future.
Five, telemedicine is here to stay.
Telemedicine used to mean diagnosing pa-
tients in far-flung rural areas and connect-
ing them to city doctors. In the age of social
distancing and COVID-19 diagnosis, it has
become an urban, middle-class reality, es-
pecially for older people. They are using
WhatsApp video, FaceTime and similar
services to speak to their doctors and avoid
going out. This has helped avoid long queues
Harsh Mander
IN THESE days of the pandemic, a metaphor
we hear often is of war. Health profession-
als, governments and people the world over
are fighting a war, indeed a world war,
against a virus which threatens to destroy
tens of thousands of lives, and some believe
even much of the world as we know it.
Every war has weapons. Some weapons
are obvious in this war — science, public in-
vestments, state capacities and the quality
of politicalleadership.But what will be most
decisiveisaweaponrarelyremembered,un-
derstood or nurtured. Our solidarity.
There are indeed many dazzling displays
of suchsolidarity.Mostof all,bypublichealth
professionals at all levels. Often badly let
down by a state which has not invested
nearlyenoughintheirprotection,testingkits,
equipment and infrastructure, they still bat-
tle at the bunkers of this war.
And then there are what I call “circles of
kindness”.EachtimeIamonthestreetshelp-
ing distribute food to the homeless and des-
titute,Iamstruckbythenumbersof ordinary
people reaching out to the hungry with food
andcare.Thepolicemostlyallowpeopledis-
tributing food even though they have no for-
mal permissions. And I even hear reports of
policepersonsorganisingfoodkitchensatthe
police stations for the hungry.
My young colleagues resolved to drive
out to distributecooked food and dry rations
at hospitals.
The potential is immense. I know of a
small village in the Sunderbans that does
not have physical medical facilities. It now
has a digital dispensary where doctors are
providing diagnostic and prescriptive serv-
ices via video conferencing. Moving ahead,
I can see doctors giving time slots to patients
for in-person consultations as well as video
consultations. Think of the savings and the
convenience.
Six, personal health and enrichment will
be the focus, more than a bank balance.
Admittedly, this will be true for only the rea-
sonably well-to-do, but more and more peo-
plewillsparetimefortheimportantthingsin
life — meditation, prayer, exercise and family
bonding.There willbe a reassessment of pri-
orities post-COVID.
Seven, innovation is coming, and in areas
we can’t even imagine. The most innovative
and those quickest to adopt change will reap
benefits; those stuck in the past will become
redundant. This sounds abstract, but what
could it mean in real life? The COVID-19
episode will hurt certain businesses and in-
centivise others (for example, eat-in restau-
rants versus cloud kitchens and takeaways;
or Uber/Ola versus Zoom). It will both create
anddestroyjobs.Onlythemostnimble com-
panies and individuals will survive.
Beginning in 1929, the Great Depression
lasted over a decade. This period gave rise to
the ballpoint point, nylon and the first work-
ing helicopter. Some of this was coinciden-
tal, some of it connected to needs that arose
in thenew circumstances. Newtechnologies
— from medical services delivery to drone-
Circles of kindness
Solidarity is a potent weapon against pandemic, prejudice weakens us all
from the second day after the lockdown to
the homeless who they knew would be
worst hit. We organised masks and gloves,
but the risk of the infection always lurked.
“We cannot sit at home and watch people
suffer,”oneexplainedtome.“Iamfrightened
of corona,” another added. “But their hunger
is greater than my fear.”
In Nizamuddin, I ask a homeless man
how he was surviving. He says he had just a
little money saved up, which he is spending
on food. But not just for his own family. He
feeds also three other families who sleep on
thepavementbesidehim.Heisnotrelatedto
them. But how can he eat and watch their
children sleep hungry?
InGhazipur,duringthelongmarchof mi-
grants,Ifindmanypeopledriveup,theircars
packed with drinking water pouches and
food,whichtheyhandouttogratefulwalkers.
Andyet,thisperiodhassimultaneouslywit-
nessed the most profound decimation of our
solidarities. Public health experts differ about
whether such a harsh and comprehensive a
lockdown was advisable in India. But assum-
ing it was, it was designed and implemented
entirelybereftof empathyandcompassion.
Let us play a mind game. Suppose all of
usinmiddle-classandformalsectoremploy-
ment were informed that none of us would
be assured a salary during the lockdown.
Instead, the state would endeavour to pay
Innovation is coming, and in
areas we can’t even imagine.
The most innovative and
those quickest to adopt
change will reap benefits;
those stuck in the past will
become redundant. This
sounds abstract, but what
could it mean in real life? The
COVID-19 episode will hurt
certain businesses and
incentivise others (for
example, eat-in restaurants
versus cloud kitchens and
takeaways; or Uber/Ola
versus Zoom). It will both
create and destroy jobs. Only
the most nimble companies
and individuals will survive.
some of us maybe two days’ wages and 5 kg
grain. Suppose we had little in our banks to
fall back on. Suppose we were also stripped
of our health insurance and could only de-
pend on ramshackle public health systems.
Would we thenhave accepted the lockdown
as a reasonable and acceptable response to
the looming pandemic?
Solidarity demands we should have de-
manded from the state that every worker in
theinformal worker must be paidforthe en-
tire duration of the lockdown, no different
from us, at least the statutory minimum
wage. But we did not.
Let us play another mind game. Suppose
youworkedfarfromtheplaceyoucallhome,
and abruptly were left without food and
work, terrified also by a disease which could
kill you. Would you still obediently stay on
in the city, ready to die among strangers? Or
would you desperately do anything to reach
your loved ones, even if this meant walking
hundredsof kilometres,dodginganuncaring
state? The inability to anticipate, and then to
deal humanely with the largest exodus of
people in India since Partition, was another
spectacular failure of public solidarity.
It was as though we then needed to find
somescapegoatforourfearsandhate.Thefirst
were people from Northeast India, who we
subjecttosavagediscrimination,onlybecause
their narrower eyes reminded ignorant racist
C R Sasikumar
based delivery, from virus-immune robots
that do manual labour to 4D printing of ven-
tilators — could result.
Eight, how will we interact socially?
Going to movies or bars, hanging out at the
mall, the mithai dukaan, chaat shop or the
club, will all decline for some time to come.
Peoplewilldistrustcrowds.Largepartieswill
be less likely; small get-togethers may be
more popular. For a social people with ex-
tendedfamilies,whatwillallthismeanforus
Indians?
Nine, cleanliness is next to godliness —
we’ve finally realised it. People are using
masks.Theyarenotsneezingintheopenand
arecoveringtheirmouthsandnoses.Tissues
are being discovered or rediscovered.
Cleaning surfaces, wiping containers and
washing hands frequently are becoming
welcome habits.
Ten, investment in healthcare infrastruc-
ture is bound to improve. At 2.5 per 1,000
people, Bengal already has the highest bed-
to-people ratio in the country. Fifty hospi-
tals, two to three in each of the 22 districts of
the state, have been set up and are being put
togooduseaspartof theCOVID-19response.
This is just one example and there are so
many nationwide.
There is a serious attempt to ramp up
healthcare capacities, including hospital
beds and isolation units. Manufacturing of
equipment, from surgical masks to PPEs, is
being pushed. All this will serve us in the fu-
ture, as part of the COVID-19 legacy.
The writer is a Rajya Sabha MP and member
of the Trinamool Congress
people of China where the virus originated.
Thenthescapegoatbecameanyoutsider.
We have reports from around the country
where not just gated colonies but poor
neighbourhoodsandvillageshaveblockaded
themselves, with no stranger allowed in.
Even migrants who managed to dodge the
police — they walked or hid in the boxes on
trucks,tryingtoreturntotheirfamiliesinthe
dead of the night — and are willing to quar-
antine in their homes, are not allowed to.
And now, the biggest scapegoat is the
Muslim. It is true that misguided leaders of a
fundamentalist sect held a meeting which
infected large numbers. But there were also
othermisguidedgatheringsatthattime.And
all Muslims cannot be held responsible for
their mistake. But social media is fevered
with hate, labelling Muslims corona bombs
waging a corona jihad. Social and economic
boycotts of Muslims are growing. Many fear
violence.
The coming months will demand the
best from us. The only chance we have of
overcomingonedayisbycementingoursol-
idarity. By holding each other in circles of
kindness. Across all our differences of class,
ethnicity, religion, gender, age and national
boundaries,bystandingwitheachother,car-
ing about, caring for each other.
Mander is a human rights worker and writer
WHAT THE OTHERS SAY
“As mass testing is the key to ensure safety, the introduction of these walk-in
Covid-19 test kiosks will serve as a beacon of hope in these dark times.”
— THEDAILYSTAR,BANGLADESH
Babasaheb and
Kashmir
HesawthespecialstatusgrantedtoJ&K
asdetrimentaltonationalunity
Arjun Ram Meghwal
SOME PEOPLE leave their imprint on his-
tory by reshaping the society they were
bornin.BRAmbedkarwasonesuchcharis-
matic figure, whose social, political and
economicvisionscontinue toinfluence the
times. The nation celebrated his birthday
on Tuesday.
As chairman of the Constitution
Drafting Committee, Ambedkar had a
meticulous approach towards making
India a just society and strengthening na-
tional integrity and sovereignty. His states-
manship is reflectedin his sympatheticap-
proach towards the Buddhists and Hindus
of Jammuand Kashmirandin hisdisagree-
ments with the then prime minister,
Jawaharlal Nehru.
Babasaheb was reluctant to accept
Nehru’s advocacy for special status to J&K.
Sardar Patel took the responsibility for uni-
fying the nation and accordingly, he inte-
grated 545 princely states to the Union of
India. In the case of J&K, Nehru took a per-
sonal interest. In a letter to Maharaja Hari
Singh of J&K, Nehru explains why the uni-
ficationacceptanceformulaextendedtoall
of IndiaisunfitforJ&K:Thekingdomof J&K
was an exception to other princely states
since it had a Hindu ruler while a majority
of subjects were Muslims.
Nehru thought that the Muslims of J&K
will oppose accession to India. Ironically,
theMuslimLeague,whichwaspushingthe
case of Pakistan, had lost the provincial
elections to the Congress in the Muslim-
majority area of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and
failed to win in Punjab. When these two
Muslim majority regions could reject the
League, why would the Muslimsof J&K ad-
vocate for integration with Pakistan?
Some historians have argued that
Nehrusawan opportunityto polish his im-
age as a liberal politician and become a
world leader by sidelining Raja Hari Singh
in favour of Sheikh Abdullah. In return,
Abdullah demanded the prime minister-
shipof J&K.Healsoinsistedonaspecialsta-
tus for J&K, which provided for a separate
constitution and a flag. This approach
turned out to be disastrous for the state.
Nehru then asked his confidante, N
Gopalaswami Ayyangar, minister without
portfoliointheinterimgovernment,topre-
pare and move the necessary legislation to
grant special status to J&K. After consulta-
tionswithConstituentAssemblymembers
Sheikh Abdullah, Mirza Mohammed Afzal
Beg, Maulana Mohammed Syed Masoodi
and Moti Ram Baigra, Ayyangar came up
with the draft of Article 306 A, which pro-
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
NO SAFETY
THIS REFERS TO the editorial “Home
and unsafe” (IE, April 14). It’s unfortu-
nate that when people are virtually
locked up inside their houses some are
violent towards women and children
living with them, according to the
National Commission for Women.
When households are placed under
strain, as with the COVID-19 crisis, the
risk of violence tends to increase. The
evidence is also mounting that the eco-
nomic impacts of COVID-19 will hit
women harder. The government must
ensure to provide full protection to
women and children.
Sanjay Chopra , Mohali
PROTECT JOBS
THIS REFERS TO the report, ‘Start big
unitsat25%capacity,Industrydepttells
Home Ministry’ (IE, April 13). The ex-
tension of lockdown as a partial-lock-
downbyclassifyingareasasRed,Yellow
and Green zones is a much-needed
move. In addition, the government also
needs to do look at a proper post-lock-
down economic plan, focusing on mi-
grant workers, and ensure that unem-
ployment levels do not rise.
Mayank Khatri, Ujjain
UPDATE CARE
THIS REFERS TO the article, ‘Why it is
critical to cocoon the elderly and the
vulnerable’ (IE, April 14). Older people
living alone in the community need
supportduringthepandemic.Thissup-
port includes safe access to nutritious
food, basic supplies, money and medi-
cine and mental health support and in-
formation to maintaining emotional
well-being. Many authorities in Indian
states now urge older people to stay at
New Delhi
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
vided special status to J&K.
On October 17, 1949, when Nehru was
in the US, Ayyangar introduced the mo-
tion for insertion of Article 306A in the
Constituent Assembly. The motion was
adopted the same day after a brief discus-
sion and later, it was renumbered Article
370 at the revision stage. Ambedkar re-
fused to attend the session that passed
the motion.
Addressing Parliament on October 10,
1951, Ambedkar, who had by then quit the
Cabinet, criticised Nehru’s foreign policy,
especially the decision to take J&K to the
UN. Ambedkar said: “Every country in the
world was our friend. Today, after four
years, all our friends have deserted us. We
havenofriendsleft.Wehavealienatedour-
selves. We are pursuing a lonely furrow
withno oneeventosecondourresolutions
in the U.N.O. When I think of our foreign
policy, I am reminded of what Bismarck
and Bernard Shaw have said. Bismarck has
said that ‘politics is not a game of realising
the ideal. Politics is the game of the possi-
ble’. Bernard Shaw not very long ago said
that good ideals are good but one must not
forget that it is often dangerous to be too
good. Our foreign policy is in complete op-
position to these words of wisdom uttered
by two of the world’s greatest men.”
Ambedkar expressed his sympathy
with the Hindus and Buddhists of J&K. He
said: “What I am afraid of is that in the pro-
posed plebiscite, which is to be an overall
plebiscite, the Hindus and Buddhists of
Kashmir are likely to be dragged into
Pakistan against their wishes and we may
have to face the same problems as we are
facing today in East Bengal.”
Ambedkar felt the special status provi-
sion of J&K will create another sovereignty
within sovereign India,which can be detri-
mental to the unity and integrity of the
Indian Republic. The implementation of
Article 370 provided for a separate flag, a
separate constitution, brought about the
feeling of separatism, self-rule, autonomy,
regional autonomy for misleading the
youths and ultimately gave birth to terror-
ism, corruption and misgovernance in J&K.
In August 2019, the Modi government
tookthebolddecisiontocorrectthehistor-
icalwrongbyscrapingArticle370.Nowthe
people of erstwhile Jammu & Kashmir are
experiencing a new dawn of vision-ori-
ented development. It has paved the way
for the implementation of nine constitu-
tional amendments and 106 other laws in
J&K. The implementation of legislation, in-
cluding the Right to Education, Whistle-
blower Protection Act, and the National
CommissionforSafai Karamcharis,anden-
suring political reservation for the
Scheduled Castes & Scheduled Tribes, will
ensure better life and opportunities for the
people.
The writer is Union Minister of State for
Parliamentary Affairs and Heavy Industries
& Public Enterprises
LETTER OF THE
WEEK AWARD
To encourage quality reader
intervention, The Indian
Express offers the Letter of
the Week award. The letter
adjudged the best for the
week is published every
Saturday. Letters may be
e-mailed to
editpage@expressindia.com
or sent to The Indian
Express, B-1/B, Sector 10,
Noida-UP 201301.
homeforanextendedperiodinself-iso-
lation. For them, we need to secure up-
dated care plans, defined pathways to
accessing services, surveillance of their
compliancewithprescribedmedicines,
supplies and equipment. Overall, it is
crucial to ensure we stay connected.
Amit M Patel, Ahmedabad
BASICS FIRST
THIS REFERS TO the article, ‘It will take
a cillage’ (IE, April 14). For this excellent
idea to fructify, facilities will be needed
in rural and semi rural areas. All-
weather roads that do not require
resurfacing every year, well-function-
ingmedicalestablishmentswheregov-
ernmentdoctorsarephysicallypresent,
reliable mobile networks and internet
facilities, steady electrical supply and
soon.Tillthen,talkof knowledgebased
industries, AI, internet of things, ma-
chine learning is empty will remain
empty.
H N Bhagwat, Chiplun

10 THE OUTBREAK
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2020
PANDEMIC
WATCH
Train staff wearing
protective masks at a
station in Tokyo. AP
JAPAN
Hospitalsuse
boozedueto
lackofsanitiser
Tokyo: Strong alcoholic
drinks can be used
“when absolutely neces-
sary” instead of hand
sanitiser in Japanese hos-
pitals, authorities said, as
supplies run dry as a re-
sult of the coronavirus
pandemic. Spirits with an
alcohol proof of between
70 and 83 percent can be
substituted to sterilise
hands under new rules
set out in a health min-
istry document obtained
by AFP on Tuesday. Some
vodkas are that strong,
but traditional Japanese
tipples such as sake and
shochu do not make the
grade. But some sake
makers have begun pro-
ducing stronger alcohol
products to meet the de-
mand for sanitiser. AFP
BANGLADESH
COVID-19
sampletesting
boothsinstalled
Dhaka: Bangladesh has
startedsettingupCOVID-19
sample collection booths.
The country has so far re-
ported 1,012 cases of coro-
navirus and 46 deaths due
tothevirus.TheDirectorate
General of Health Service
said the coronavirus pan-
demichaspromptedthem
to introduce the testing fa-
cilities at neighbourhoods
ofDhakaandotherhotspots
just like South Korea's
“kiosk” model to intensify
combat against the deadly
virus.Theinitiativeisincol-
laboration with an NGO
called JKG.Aspokesperson
forJKGsaidtheboothslook
like glass cabins and med-
ical staff or healthcare pro-
fessionalsinitareequipped
withprotectivegear. PTI
IRAQ
Reutersbarred
for3months
overvirusreport
London: Iraq has sus-
pended the licence of the
Reuters news agencyafter
it published a story saying
the number of confirmed
COVID-19 cases in the
country was higher than
officially reported. Iraq's
mediaregulatorsaiditwas
revoking Reuters' licence
for three months and fin-
ing it 25 million dinars
($21,000). Reuters said it
stoodbythestory,whichit
said was based on well-
placed medical and politi-
cal sources, and repre-
sented the position of the
healthministry. REUTERS
N Korea fires barrage of
missiles from ground, air
Seoul: A barrage of North Korean
missiles fired from both the
ground and fighter jets splashed
down on the waters off the
country’s east coast on Tuesday,
South Korea’s military said, a
show of force on the eve of a key
state anniversary in the North
and parliamentary elections in
the rival South.
The back-to-back launches
were the latest in a series of
weapons tests that North Korea
has conducted in recent weeks
amidstallednucleartalksandout-
sideworriesaboutapossiblecoro-
navirus outbreak in the country.
North Korean troops
launched several projectiles —
Spain, Austria ease lockdowns as
WHO warns virus has not peaked
REUTERS
MADRID, LONDON, APRIL 14
SPAIN AND Austria allowed par-
tial returns to work on Tuesday
but Britain and France extended
coronavirus lockdowns to try to
rein in the most serious pan-
demic in a century which the
World Health Organization said
had “certainly” not peaked.
Nearly2millionpeopleglob-
allyhavebeeninfectedandmore
than 119,200 have died, accord-
ing to a Reuters tally of official
figures.Theepicentrehasmoved
from China, where the virus first
emerged in December, to the
UnitedStateswhichnowhasthe
highest death toll at 23,568.
Worldleaders,inconsidering
easingcurbsonmovement,have
tobalancetheriskstohealthand
the economy, as the lockdowns
strangledsupplylines,especially
in China, and brought economic
activity to a virtual halt.
TheWHOsaidthenumberof
new cases was easing in some
parts of Europe, including Italy
and Spain, but outbreaks were
growing in Britain and Turkey.
New York hospitalisations
fall for first time: Cuomo
REUTERS
NEW YORK, APRIL 14
THE TOTAL number of people
hospitalised in New York fell for
the first time since the onset of
the coronavirus outbreak, a fur-
ther sign the state at the epicen-
ter may be at the peak of its cri-
sis, Governor Andrew Cuomo
said on Tuesday.
He told a daily briefing that
Donald Trump had inaccurately
asserted the president had total
authority over when states re-
openschools andbusinessesbut
added that he did not want, or
have the time, to fight with
Trump.
Cuomo said that a total of
18,697 people were hospitalised
across New York, down from
18,825 a day earlier and the first
tick lower since the crisis began.
Pak clerics warn govt against
ban on religious congregations
SAJJAD HUSSAIN
ISLAMABAD, APRIL 14
A GROUP of over 50 senior cler-
ics in Pakistan has warned the
government against the ban on
religious congregations amidst
the coronavirus outbreak.
TheImranKhangovernment
has banned prayer congrega-
tions of more than five people as
part of its measures to curb the
spreadof thedeadlycoronavirus,
which has infected over 5,715
people in Pakistan.
Despite the government’s
pleas to observe social distanc-
ing, over 53 senior clerics of
Rawalpindi and Islamabad be-
longing to the Wafaqul Madaris
al Arabia on Monday held a
meeting in Jamia Darul Uloom
Zakria here to discuss the ban on
prayer congregations, the Dawn
News reported.
The meeting — attended by
clerics representing various
seminaries, banned groups, pro-
presumed to be cruise missiles
— on Tuesday morning, South
Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said
in a statement.
Later Tuesday, North Korea
launched several Sukhoi-class
fighter jets that fired an unspec-
ified number of air-to-surface
missilestowardtheNorth’seast-
ernwaters,adefenseofficialsaid.
The official said North Korea
has recently appeared to be re-
suming its military drills that it
had scaled back due to concerns
about the coronavirus pan-
demic. He said other North
Korean fighter jets also flew on
patrol near the border with
China on Tuesday. AP
People queue up to enter a store in Eisenstadt, Austria on
Tuesday. Reuters
“The overall world outbreak,
90 percent of cases are coming
from Europe and the United
States of America. So we are cer-
tainly not seeing the peak yet,”
WHO spokeswoman Margaret
Harris told a briefing in Geneva.
In Spain, restrictions have
helped to slow a spiralling death
ratethatreacheditspeakinearly
April.
Theovernightdeathtollfrom
the coronavirus rose to 567 on
Tuesday from 517 a day earlier,
Patients hospitalised for COVID-
19,the respiratoryillness caused
by the coronavirus, were down
bymorethan300peopletheday
before.
“We think we are at the apex
on the plateau,” Cuomo said,
thoughhecautionedthatthede-
cline, while part of a flattening
trend over the past week or so,
wasstatisticallyinsignificantand
warnedagainst relaxing stay-at-
home orders too quickly.
“We could lose all the
progress we made in one week,”
he said.
Cuomo said an additional
778 New Yorkers died on
Monday, up from 671 a day ear-
lier, which had marked the low-
est daily death count since April
5.Atotalof 10,834NewYorkres-
idents have died due to COVID-
19,nearlyhalf thetotalacrossthe
country.
MEANWHILE, IN KARACHI: People receive cash vouchers
under a government scheme for families in need. AP
scribedpersonsandpoliticaland
non-political parties — warned
the authorities against the ban
and said government leaders
should abide by religious norms
and seek forgiveness.
Pir Azizur Rehman Hazarvi,
president of the Jamia Darul
Uloom Zakaria in Islamabad,
said, “The closure of mosques,
Obama endorses Biden as Democrat candidate
REUTERS
WASHINGTON, APRIL 14
FORMER US President Barack
Obama finally endorsed his vice
presidentJoeBiden’spresidential
campaignonTuesdayinaneffort
tobringtheDemocraticPartyto-
gether ahead of the election.
After staying on the sidelines
as a record high number of
Democratic candidates fought
for the right to take on President
Donald Trump at the November
3 election, Obama gave his sup-
port to Biden in a video posted
online.
“Choosing Joe to be my vice
presidentwasoneof thebestde-
cisions I ever made and he be-
butthecountryreporteditslow-
est increase in new cases since
March 18. Total deaths climbed
to 18,056.
Some activities, including
constructionandmanufacturing,
were allowed to restart. Shops,
barsandpublicspacesaretostay
closed until at least April 26.
But some Spanish workers
expressed concern that the re-
laxation of restrictions could
trigger a new surge.
Italy, which has the world’s
WITHERED AWAY
Russia’s rose growers are destroying an estimated 1.2 million flowers a day after a
coronavirus-induced slump in sales, with fears of worse to come as self-isolation measures
take hold across the country. Reuters
shutting down Friday prayers
andTaraweehisunacceptableto
the countrymen.”
Hazarvi, who is also the pa-
tron of Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl
(JUI-F), insisted that in order to
get rid of the virus, it was imper-
ative to “seek forgiveness from
Allah”andincreasethepopulace
in mosques. PTI
OTHER TOP GLOBAL STORIES
Former US President Barack Obama and Joe Biden. AP File
cameaclosefriend.AndIbelieve
Joe has all the qualities we need
inapresidentrightnow,”Obama
said in the video.
second highest death toll of
20,465, maintained some tight
restrictions on movement.
Denmark, one of the first
European countries to shut
down, will reopen day care cen-
tres and schools for children in
first to fifth grade on April 15.
Thousands of shops across
AustriawerereopeningTuesday,
but the government said it was
“not out of the woods” yet.
Austria acted early in its out-
break to close schools, bars, the-
atres, restaurants, non-essential
shopsandothergatheringplaces
about four weeks ago. It has told
the public to stay home and
work from there if possible.
Austria has reported 368
deaths in total, fewer than some
larger European countries have
been suffering each day. The
dailyincreaseinconfirmedcases
is in low single digits in percent-
age terms and hospitalisations
have stabilised.
Britain, where the govern-
menthascomeundercriticismfor
its slow approach to testing and
for not getting protective equip-
ment to the frontlines, has the
fifth-highest death toll globally
Pak extends
lockdown, some
industries to
reopen in phases
REUTERS
ISLAMABAD, APRIL 14
Pakistan Prime Minister Imran
Khan Tuesday announced a two-
weekextensiontothenationwide
shutdown to curb the COVID-19
spread, but said some industries
would reopen in phases.
The first industry to reopen
would be construction, Khan
said in a televised address to the
nation. “That lockdown, those
restrictions on gatherings will
continue for another two
weeks,” Khan said.
Pakistan, which has already
completed a three week lock-
down, has reported 5,716 cases
with 96 deaths.
The World Bank has warned
that Pakistan is expected to fall
into recession in fiscal 2020-21.
Khanhassoughtdebtrelief from
international lenders to combat
the pandemic.
Theendorsement by the first
black US president came after
Biden’slastremainingrivalinthe
Democratic nominating race,
The World
andasenioradvisertothegovern-
ment has said the country risks
becomingtheworst-hitinEurope.
The death toll in British hos-
pitals rose to 11,329 on Monday
and Foreign Secretary Dominic
Raabsaidtherewouldbenoeas-
ingof lockdownmeasureswhen
they come up for review this
week. The Times newspaper said
on Tuesday he would extend
them until at least May 7.
The government has had to
defend its response to the out-
break amid questions about
whether Johnson, who fell ill
with the virus and was briefly in
intensive care, was too slow to
impose a lockdown.
French President Emmanuel
Macron on Monday extended a
virtual lockdown to May 11.
China’s northeastern border
province of Heilongjiang saw 79
new cases of imported coron-
avirus cases on Monday, all
Chinese citizens travelling back
from Russia, state media said.
As of Tuesday, China had re-
ported82,249 coronavirus cases
and 3,341 deaths. There were no
deaths in the past 24 hours.
As rebel-held Syria fears virus,
just one machine to test samples
KHALIL ASHAWI
IDLIB, APRIL 14
A SINGLE machine at Mohamad
Shahim Makki’s medical centre
in Idlib province, part of Syria’s
last rebel stronghold, is the only
alarm that will sound when the
coronavirus strikes a population
of millions of the world’s most
vulnerable people.
Makki’s Epidemiological
Surveillance Laboratory has the
only device in areas outside of
Syrian government control
equipped to run a polymerase
chainreaction(PCR)testtodetect
thevirus.Asofafewdaysago,just
120 tests had been carried out on
just 300 samples.
While all have been negative
so far, doctors and relief agencies
fear that crowded camps for dis-
placed people, and medical facil-
ities ravaged by years of war,
would make any contagion rapid
and lethal.
Samples have begun to come
Senator Bernie Sanders, backed
Biden on Monday.
Obama had publicly re-
mained neutral as Biden, who
served him for eight years in the
White House, at first struggled
to impose himself on the 2020
Democratic race then swept to
victory in a series of primaries in
March.
Obama “is a uniting partner
in helping bridge this party after
an intense primary and paving
theroadahead,”saidDemocratic
strategist Antjuan Seawright.
Three years after they de-
parted the White House, Barack
Obama and his wife Michelle re-
main two of the most beloved
figures in the Democratic Party.
Obama’s popularity within
New Delhi
UN: 117 mn kids face
measles risk from
COVID-19 response
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
PARIS, APRIL 14
AROUND 117 million children
worldwide risk contracting
measles because dozens of
countriesarecurtailingtheirvac-
cination programmes as they
battle COVID-19, the United
Nations warned on Tuesday.
Currently 24 countries, in-
cluding several already dealing
with large measles outbreaks,
have suspended widespread
vaccinations, the World Health
Organisation and the UN’s chil-
dren’s fund UNICEF said.
An additional 13 countries
have had their vaccination pro-
grammes interrupted due to
COVID-19.
In a joint statement, the
Measles and Rubella Initiative
(M&RI) said it was vital that im-
munisation capacity was re-
tained during and after the cur-
rent pandemic. “Together, more
than 117 million children...could
be impacted by the suspension
of scheduled immunization ac-
tivities,” it said.
“TheM&RIsupportstheneed
to protect communities and
health workers from COVID-19
through a pause of mass cam-
paigns, where risks of the dis-
ease are high. However, this
should not mean that children
permanently miss out.”
Measles, a highly contagious
disease, effects around 20 mil-
UN chief: Misinformation
on virus putting lives at risk
United Nations: UN Secretary-
General Antonio Guterres on
Tuesday warned that a global
“misinfo-demic” about COVID-
19 is spreading across the world.
The UN chief said at a time
whenpeopleshouldtrustscience
and have solidarity, the “global
‘misinfo-demic”isspreading.“As
the world fights the deadly
COVID-19 pandemic — the most
challenging crisis we have faced
since the World War 2 — we are
also seeing another epidemic, a
dangerousepidemicof misinfor-
mation,” Guterres said.
into the lab faster, with 5,000 re-
ceivedinthelasttwodays,though
it is not yet clear how many of
them can be processed or how
quickly.
Themachine“isnotsufficient
to serve all these people, so there
is pressure on the device. And
sinceitistheonlyone,strictcrite-
ria are being used to select sam-
ples,” said Makki.
NorthwestSyriaisthelastpart
of the country still held by fight-
erstryingtooverthrowPresident
Bashar al-Assad. It is home to
morethan3millionpeople,most
of whom fled other parts of Syria
inacivilwarthatbegannineyears
ago. “If corona spreads in the
northwestitwillbeacatastrophe.
Thenumberofdeathswillbevery
bigandinfectionswillbehuge,in
the hundreds of thousands,”
Ahmad al-Dbis of the U.S.-based
medical charity UOSSM, which
operates in opposition territory,
told Reuters last month.
Plans to equip other centres
with PCR test devices have been
the Democratic Party could bol-
sterBiden,particularlyamongde-
mographicgroupswithwhichhe
hasstruggled.ACNNpollreleased
when Obama left office showed
more than 70 per cent of voters
under the age of 34 viewed him
favorably as did 90 per cent of
self-described liberals.
"Becauseheissopopularand
the comparison between
President Trump and Barack
Obama is so stark, it will be such
a unifying, motivating factor,"
said Terry McAuliffe, a former
Virginia governor.
Obama’s support also gives
Biden access to a network of
donors and other allies, some of
whom were initially cool to the
former vice president.
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
lion people every year, the ma-
jority of whom are aged under
five.
Of the two dozen countries
to have officially suspended
measles vaccine programmes —
ostensibly to protect health
workersandprioritiseCOVID-19
response — several have seen
worrying rises in measles cases
in recent years.
Robin Nandy, UNICEF's chief
of immunisation, told AFP that
COVID-19 was likely to place ad-
ditional strain on already over-
burdened healthcare systems.
“We have to be mindful of
the impact of COVID-19, threat-
ening outbreaks of measles, an
extremely contagious and po-
tentially lethal disease for which
therealreadyexistsasafeandef-
fective vaccine,” he said.
Experts have warned since
the start of the outbreak that re-
sponse programmes to other in-
fectiousdiseasesarelikelytosuf-
fer as health services triage
workers to COVID-19 cases.
And while COVID-19 is over-
whelmingly more serious in
older patients, many communi-
cable diseases, including
measles, inordinately target
children.
“Children younger than 12
months of age are more likely to
die from measles complications,
and if the circulation of measles
virus is not stopped, their risk of
exposure to measles will in-
crease daily," said the M&RI.
The UN chief announced a
new United Nations communi-
cations response initiative to
flood the internet with facts and
science while “countering the
growingscourge of misinforma-
tion,apoisonthatisputtingeven
more lives at risk”.
Guterresvoicedconcernover
the“wildconspiracytheories”in-
fecting the Internet, saying “ha-
tred is going viral, stigmatising
andvilifyingpeopleandgroups”.
Heurgednationstouniteagainst
this disease of misinformation
while battling COVID-19. PTI
slowed by their high cost and the
training needed to run them.
“Intheliberatedareaswehave
major weaknesses in the health
sectorbecauseof thewarandbe-
cause of the systematic targeting
of hospitals and health centres,”
said Makki.
The government, backed by
Russia and Iran, launched a push
earlier this year to capture Idlib,
thousands of residents fleeing,
many of them people who were
already displaced.
In recent days thousands of
Syrians have begun to leave
camps near the Turkish border,
some wary of the virus reaching
tightlypackedquarters,choosing
instead to return to Idlib after a
ceasefire struck last month that
has restored calm.
Intherestof Syria,Damascus
has reported 25 coronavirus
cases and two deaths in govern-
ment-heldareas.Ithasshutbusi-
nesses, halted flights, and im-
posed a curfew to curb the
spread of the virus. REUTERS
Forest fire near
Chernobyl out:
Ukraine govt
Kiev: A huge blaze that tore
through forests around the de-
funct Chernobyl nuclear plant
has been put out, Ukrainian offi-
cials said on Tuesday, saying
hundredsof emergencyworkers
had used planes and helicopters
to douse the flames.
Environmental activists had
warned on Monday that the fire,
nearthesiteof theworld’sworst
nuclear disaster in 1986, posed a
radiation risk.
“There is no open fire,” the
Interior Ministry said in a state-
ment. It added that there was “a
slight smouldering of the forest
floor” however. REUTERS

11 ECONOMY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2020
COVID-19 EFFECT
PROVIDENT FUND
After small savings,
FinMin may seek cut
in FY20 EPFO interest
rate post lockdown
AANCHALMAGAZINE
NEWDELHI,APRIL14
AFTER A sharp cut in small
savingsinterestratesforApril-
June, the Finance Ministry is
learnt to have flagged con-
cerns about the high interest
rate of 8.5 per cent for sub-
scribers of Employees’
ProvidentFund(EPF)for2019-
20.Thefinalcallregardingthe
rate,however,wouldbetaken
after the nationwide lock-
down is lifted on May 4, since
anyreconsiderationoftherate
wouldrequireameetingofthe
Central Board of Trustees
(CBT)oftheEPFO,officialssaid.
Already, there have been
concerns about the interest
rate for FY21, which would be
finalisedearlynextyear,given
thevolatilityinstockmarkets.
The retirement fund body
mightfindittoughtomakeits
interest rate payout at over 8
per cent for the next fiscal, of-
ficialssaid.TheEPFOisclosely
monitoringitsinvestmentsin
the stock markets, they said,
adding that the situation is of
concern but not alarming.
“The Finance Ministryhas
raised some concerns (about
the EPF interest rate). It has to
approve it. It will be a long-
drawnprocess,it’sexpectedto
befinalisedafterthelockdown
for COVID-19 pandemic,” a
senior official said. Another
CBT member said, “We are
continuously monitoring the
investments. It’s a matter of
concern but not a matter of
worry.” A formal meeting of
the Finance, Investment &
AuditCommittee(FIAC)ofthe
EPFOisexpectedtotakeplace
as soon as the lockdown is
lifted in May, the official said.
The government had de-
cided to cut small savings in-
BRIEFLY
GSTrefund
aftercancelling
contract
New Delhi: With aviation
and hospitality sectors see-
ing mass cancellation of
bookings following COVID-
19 outbreak, the Central
Board of Indirect Taxes and
Customs has allowed busi-
nesses to claim refund of
GST in cases where invoice
wasgeneratedbutwassub-
sequently cancelled.
CBDTnoticeon
taxpayerswith
shortdeduction
New Delhi: Taxpayers with
income of Rs 2 crore and
above who have not de-
positedincreasedsurcharge
while calculating their TDS
during 2019-20 fiscal will
have to do so before filing
theirincometaxreturns,the
I-T Department has said.
Dataonprepaid
users’recharge
patternsought
New Delhi: Trai on Tuesday
asked all telcos, including
Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea
and Reliance Jio, to provide
dataonrechargepatternsof
prepaid users during the
lockdown,andotherrelated
information. PTI
Hindalco
acquiresAleris
for$2.2billion
Mumbai: Hindalco Indus-
tries Tuesday announced
thecompletionoftheacqui-
sition of Aleris Corporation
for an enterprise value of
$2.8 billion, a shade higher
than the $2.6 billion an-
nounced earlier. FE
SENSEX: 30,690.02 ▼ 469.60 NIFTY: 8,993.85 ▼ 118.05 NIKKEI: 19,638.81 ▼ 595.41 HANG SENG: 24,435.40 ▲ 135.07 FTSE: 5,808.10 ▼ 34.56 DAX: 10,675.93 ▲ 111.19
The Ministry is
learnt to have
flagged concerns
over the 8.5%
interest rate for EPF
subscribers for FY20
terest rates sharply by 70-140
basispoints(bps)fortheApril-
June quarter, following the
Reserve Bank of India’s cut in
thereporateby75bps,along-
side a slew of liquidity-en-
hancing measures to counter
the impact of the pandemic.
Small savings rates range
from4.0-7.6percentandaga-
instthesesmallsavingsinstru-
ments,interestrateforsubscr-
ibers of EPFO has been
recommendedtobeatamuch
higher 8.5 per cent for FY20.
Last month, the CBT rec-
ommended the interest rate
to be cut to a seven-year low
of 8.5 per cent for 2019-20 for
itssixcroreactivesubscribers.
Asperthecalculationsshared
in the meeting, the proposed
8.5percentratewasexpected
to leave a surplus of Rs 700
crorewiththeretirementfund
body, while retaining interest
rateatlastyear’s8.65percent
would have left a deficit of
around Rs350 crore. The esti-
matesforsurpluswillneedto
berevisedtakingintoaccount
thereturnonequity-linkedin-
vestments till March-end.
EPFOinvests85percentof
thefundsindebtinstruments
and 15 per cent of the invest-
ments in ETFs. The interest
rate recommendation of the
CBT requires nod from the
FinanceMinistryasperconve-
ntion. The Ministry has been
nudging EPFO to reduce the
rate to sub-8 per cent level, in
linewiththeoverallscenario.
Deadline for filing ESI contributions Airlines plan phased resumption of ops
for February extended to May 15
ENS ECONOMIC BUREAU
NEW DELHI, APRIL 14
THE GOVERNMENT has decided
to extend the deadline for filing
contributions under the Emplo-
yees’ State Insurance
Corporation (ESIC) for February
till May 15, in the wake of the
lockdownto counter theCOVID-
19 outbreak.
Officialssaidthegovernment
will also extend the ECR (elec-
tronic challan-cum-receipt)
deadline for submission of
Employees’ Provident Fund
(EPF) contribution for March af-
ter receiving representations to
extend the deadline from April
15 by 30-60 days.
A Labour Ministry statement
said many establishments are
temporarily closed and workers
are unable to work due to the
COVID-19crisis. “Inline with the
relief measures being extended
by the government to business
entities and workers, ESIC has
taken steps for its stakeholders,
specially employers and insured
Gold rallies to
7-1/2-year peak
as virus sparks
recession fears
Bengaluru: Gold soared nearly 2
per cent to hit its highest since
late2012Tuesday,withinvestors
rushing to the safety of bullion
as the coronavirus ravaged
economies worldwide and trig-
gered the rollout of huge stimu-
lus plans.
Spot gold gained 1.3 per cent
to $1,735.85 per ounce by 1734
GMT, having earlier jumped as
muchas1.9percentto$1,746.50.
USgoldfuturessettledup0.4per
cent to $1,768.90, after hitting
theirhighestlevelsinceFebruary
2013 at $1,788.80.
Gold’s rise came alongside
gains in global equities after
Chinese trade data came in bet-
ter than expected. REUTERS
TRUCKERS’BODYWARNSOFSCARCITYOFESSENTIALSUPPLIES
Roadblocksremainongroundfor
truckersdespitegovtassurances
PRANAVMUKUL
NEWDELHI,APRIL14
ASSURANCES BY Prime Minister
NarendraModiaboutsupplycha-
inconstraints“continuouslybeing
removed”notwithstanding,tran-
sportersacrossmuchofthecoun-
try continue to run into speed-
bumps on inter-state highways.
Truck owners have reported
that less than 10 per cent of the
over 90 lakh goods carriage vehi-
cles are currently plying on the
roads, with several hundred
stranded at state borders as well
as warehouses and godowns,
loaded with items worth around
Rs 40,000 crore waiting to be un-
loaded. These items include
grains, pulses, other farm pro-
duces, motor parts, textile goods,
paper, electrical goods, etc.
Addressing the nation on
Tuesday,thePMsaidthecountry-
wide lockdown was being ex-
tended till May 3 and that “the
country has ample reserves of
medicines,food-rationandother
essentialgoods;andsupplychain
‘Extended lockdown to cause
$234.4 bn economic loss’
Extension of the nationwide lockdown till May 3 will inflict
an economic loss of $234.4 billion, and result in stagnant
GDP for calendar year 2020, British brokerage Barclays said
AFTERANNOUNCEMENTOF
LOCKDOWNEXTENSION:
0%:
Projected economic growth for
calendar year 2020
0.8%:
Projected economic growth for
fiscal year 2021
MODESTREBOUNDINACTIVITYBYJUNE: Theendofthe
lockdownbyearlyJune,followedbyamodestreboundinactivity,could
resultininventoryrebuildingacrosscertainsectors
once govt clears way for economic activity
persons, besides strengthening
its medical resources to fight
COVID-19.”
The period for filing ESI con-
tributions for February and
March was earlier extended to
April 15 and May 15, respec-
tively, which has now been fur-
ther extended to May 15 for
February, it further stated. The
period for filing contribution for
March is also May 15.
No penalty or interest will be
levied on establishments during
the extended period. Around
3.49 crore insured persons (IPs)
and 12,11,174 employers are ex-
pected to make use of the exten-
sion of period for filing the re-
turn, it said.
Also, someother relief meas-
ures have been undertaken for
IPs and beneficiaries. Purchase
of medicines by ESI beneficiar-
ies from private chemists during
thelockdownperiodanditssub-
sequent reimbursement by ESIC
has been permitted, it added. A
provisionhasalsobeenmadefor
providingmedicalservicestoIPs
and beneficiaries from tie-up
Oil dives 6% as demand fears trump output cuts Must be prepared for 20%
REUTERS
NEWYORK,APRIL14
OIL PRICES fell around 6 per cent
on Tuesday as investors doubted
that record OPEC+ supply cuts
would soon balance markets as
demandplungesduetothecoro-
navirus pandemic.
Brent crude futures fell $1.74,
or 5.5 per cent, to $30.00 a barrel
by 1657 GMT. US West Texas
Intermediate (WTI) crude was
down $1.51, or 6.7 per cent, at
$20.90abarrel.Globaloilproduc-
ersworldwideareexpectedtocut
overall output by roughly 19.5
million barrels per day, or nearly
20 per cent of world supply.
However, those commit-
ments—whichincludevoluntary
cutsthatwillhappengraduallyin
placesliketheUnitedStates—will
not be enough to reduce the
UNDER 10% OF OVER 90 LAKH TRUCKS PLYING
■ Truck owners have
reported that less than 10
per cent of the over 90 lakh
goods carriage vehicles are
currently plying on
the roads
constraints are continuously be-
ing removed.” The government
will issue detailed guidelines
abouttheextendedlockdownon
Wednesday, he said.
Earlier this week, Home
Secretary Ajay Bhalla wrote to
statechiefsecretariespointingout
that it had come to his ministry’s
notice that in some parts of the
country,truckscarryingessential
andnon-essentialgoodswerebe-
ingdetained,inadditiontowork-
ers needed for operation of man-
ufacturingunitsofessentialgoods
and other exempted categories
notgettingauthorisationsfortheir
movement.
“Empty trucks/goods carriers
shouldalsobeallowedtooperate
BEFOREANNOUNCEMENT
OFLOCKDOWNEXTENSION:
2.5%:
Projected economic growth for
calendar year 2020
3.5%:
Projected economic growth for
fiscal year 2021
hospitals, if an ESIC hospital is
declared as a dedicated COVID-
19 facility.
Medical benefit is provided
under Rule 60-61 to the IPs who
cease to be in insurable employ-
ment on account of permanent
disablement and to the retired
IPs on payment of advance
lump-sum contribution for a
year at the rate of Rs 10 per
month.
Under prevailing circumst-
ancesof lockdown,theremaybe
cases where validity of medical
benefit cards issued to these
beneficiaries expire as they are
unable to deposit the advance
annual lump-sum contribution.
Such beneficiaries have been
allowed to avail medical benefit
under Rule 60 and 61 of ESI
(Central Rules) till June 30, the
Ministry’s statement noted.
Paymentof about Rs 41 crore
inrespect of permanent disable-
ment benefit and dependants’
benefit has been transferred to
the bank accounts of beneficiar-
ies in the month of March, it fur-
ther said.
BRENT DOWN 5.5%, US WTI DECLINES 6.7%
■Global oil producers
worldwide are expected to
cut overall output by
roughly 19.5 million bpd, or
nearly 20% of world supply
■Brent crude futures fell
5.5% to $30.00 a barrel,
while US West Texas
Intermediate (WTI) crude
was down 6.7%
growing worldwide supply glut.
Oil prices remain more than 50
per cent down this year.
The bulk of the mandated re-
ductionscomefromtheOrganiz-
ation of the Petroleum Exporting
Countries (OPEC) and its allies, a
group known as OPEC+. That
groupagreedthisweekendtocut
■Several hundred are
stranded at state borders as
well as warehouses and
godowns, loaded with items
worth around `40,000 crore,
waiting to be unloaded
whileonwaytopickupgoods,or
returning after completing a de-
livery. Hence, there is no cause to
stop empty trucks provided they
have valid documents, such as
driving licence and road permit,
etc,” Bhalla noted in his letter,
adding that local authorities
should actively facilitate the
movement of truck drivers.
Kultaran Singh Atwal, presi-
dent, All India Motor Transport
Congress, said that even after
communicationsfromtheHome
Ministry,authoritiesattheground
level were not honouring the
Centre’srequests.“Ifsuchscenario
persists, scarcity of essential sup-
pliesisinevitable.Driverswhoare
behindthewheelsondatecarry-
RESTRICTIONSCAUSING
MORETHANEXPECTED
DAMAGE:
While India is still not officially
calling the infections to be in
the community transmission
stage, the existing restrictions
on movement are causing
much more economic damage
than anticipated
$120 BILLION: Economic cost
that the three-week lockdown was
expected to have on the country
PRANAVMUKUL
NEWDELHI,APRIL14
THE EXTENSION of lockdown till
May 3 has also rippled on to the
civil aviation sector, but airlines
havestartedplanningforgradual
resumption of operations from
May 4. India’s largest airline
IndiGosaidTuesdaythatitwillre-
sumeflightoperationsMay4on-
wards,initiallywithacurtailedca-
pacity. The airline said it will
increase the operating capacity
goingaheadoverthesubsequent
months,alsore-openingsomein-
ternational flights.
However, plans to gradually
restartoperationsremaincontin-
gent on the government clearing
the way for economic activity to
resume. Shortly after Prime
Minister Narendra Modi’s an-
nouncementonTuesdayextend-
ing the lockdown, the Civil Aviat-
ion Ministry also notified
continuationofthebanonsched-
uledcommercialflightstillMay3.
Aviationispeggedtobeoneof
output by 9.7 million bpd in May
and June. The rest from the US,
Canadaandothers,willcomeover
timeasaresultofweakpricing.As
a result, physical markets where
crudeistraded,suchasinHouston
orLondon,suggestpriceswillnot
recoverforawhileasstoragefills.
US production is starting to
GOLD
`41,705
Note: Spot gold markets shut due to lockdown in major states. *Indian basket as on March 19, 2020
*Domestic equity, forex and debt markets were closed on account of Ambedkar Jayanti; International market data till 1900 IST
ingessentialornon-essentialsup-
plies or empty vehicles must be
assuredtoreachtheirdestination
without any hassles,” he said.
“The conditions are similar in
almost every part of the country.
Northernregioniscomparatively
betterthanothersandeasternre-
gion is the worst, especially
Assam,JharkhandandTelangana,
etc,” Atwal pointed out when
asked about the pockets of the
country,wheretruckerswerefac-
ing most issues.
He also raised the issue of
truckers getting their contracts
cancelledbygovernmentandpri-
vate agencies. “After the Hon’ble
PM’s address today, there is re-
newed concern in the transport
sector regarding its sustenance.
The Hon’ble PM has appealed to
the corporate and public sector
enterprises to cooperate in this
hourof crisisbytakingcareof the
workforce and their dependent
stakeholders...thecorporatesand
PSEsshouldhonourtheirexisting
work contracts as livelihood of
many others depends on antici-
pated work,” Atwal said.
ESSENTIAL
SECTORS WITH
HIGHER THAN
EXPECTED
NEGATIVE IMPACT:
■ Mining
■ Agriculture
■ Manufacturing
■ Utility
Source: Barclays/PTI
GLOBALSITUATION
PRECARIOUSTOO
■InternationalAir
Transport Association
CEOAlexandredeJuniac
warnedthatoverhalf of
passengerrevenues
coulddisappear,i.e.a
$314billionhit
■Airlinescouldburn
through$61billionof
cashreservesinthe
secondquarteralone,
whichputsatrisk25
millionjobsdependent
onaviation,headded
the main sectors to have severely
felttheheatof theCOVID-19out-
break,withquestionsbeingraised
over the very survival of certain
airlines.“Airlinebusinessisavery
highfixedcostbusinesswithma-
jor expenses including fuel costs
(~30-35% of total costs), lease
drop,theEnergyDepartmentsaid
onMonday,withestimatedshale
outputexpectedtofallby200,000
bpd in April, a record.
Meanwhile, equity markets
rallied globally and the dollar
weakened on Tuesday as better-
than-expectedChinesetradedata
suggested the threat of a much
deeperdowntownfromthecoro-
navirus had been overstated.
European stocks rallied more
than1percentandsharesonWall
Street over 2 per cent. On Wall
Street, the Dow Jones Industrial
Average rose 1.58 per cent to
23,759.62. The S&P 500 gained
1.95 per cent to 2,815.43 and the
Nasdaq Composite added 2.65
per cent to reach 8,409.64.
MSCI’s All-Country World
Index,whichtrackssharesacross
49countries,gained1.81percent
anditsemergingmarketstockin-
dex rose 1.63 per cent.
New Delhi
RUPEE
`76.27
IMF slashes FY21 India
growth forecast to
1.9% from 5.8%; warns
of global recession
ENSECONOMICBUREAU
NEWDELHI,APRIL14
THE INTERNATIONAL Monetary
Fund (IMF) on Tuesday sharply
cutitsIndiagrowthforecastto1.9
percentforFY21from5.8percent
projected in January, and pre-
dicteda3percentcontractionfor
2020globalGDP,warningthatthe
COVID-19 outbreak has plunged
theglobaleconomyintoitsworst
recession since the Great
Depression in 1930s.
It also expected India’s FY20
growthtotouch4.2percent,com-
pared to the Statistics Depart-
ment’spre-pandemicestimateof
5 per cent. However, India’s eco-
nomic expansion will likely re-
bound to 7.4 per cent in the next
fiscal (FY22), the Fund said.
Rating agency ICRA, too, re-
viseddownitsFY21growthfore-
cast for the country to anywhere
between (-)1 per cent and 1 per
cent,ontheassumptionthatGDP
couldcontractinarangeof 10-15
per cent in the first quarter.
The World Bank had cut its
FY21Indiagrowthforecasttoany-
where between 1.5 per cent and
2.8 per cent, lowest in around
three decades.
Thepandemicandtheconse-
quentlockdownonlyexacerbated
thewoesfortheIndianeconomy,
which was undergoing an exte-
ndedphaseof slowdown,thanks
partly to subdued consumption
and elusive private investments.
In its biannual World
Economic Outlook, the Fund
termedtheCOVID-19outbreakas
acrisislikenootherandpredicted
thateveninthebasecasescenario
(in which the impact of the pan-
demicwanesinthesecondhalfof
2020andcontainmenteffortsare
graduallyunwound),thecontrac-
tion in global GDP will be much
sharperthana0.1 percentfalldur-
ing the 2008–09 financial crisis.
The IMF has projected a re-
boundinglobaleconomicgrowth
in 2021 at 5.8 per cent but it ade-
quately flagged risks to the fore-
casts from “lingering uncertainty
about contagion, confidence fail-
charges (~30-35% of total costs)
and O&M (operations and main-
tenance) costs (~15-20% of total
costs)constitutingmorethan85-
90% of the total costs,” CARE
Ratingsnotedinaresearchreport
published Tuesday.
“Thoughairlinesarenotbear-
ingfuelcostsgiventhelockdown
scenario, costs related to fuel
(ATF), lease rentals (usually
payable monthly) and O&M
which are largely fixed in nature
need to be borne by all the play-
ers (lease rentals are fixed in na-
turewhetheravailedunderoper-
ating or financing lease
arrangement, while minimum
O&Mactivitiesneedtobedonein
all the grounded planes as per
DGCA guidelines),” the report
said.
“Also, all such operating ex-
penses (lease rentals, O&M ex-
penses) are paid in foreign cur-
rency (USD, EUR etc) and are
largelyunhedged,exposingallair-
lineoperatorstovolatilityinforex
rates(inlast1year,INRhasdepre-
ciatedbyaround10%againstUSD)
drop in real estate prices:
HDFC chairman Parekh
PRESSTRUSTOFINDIA
MUMBAI,APRIL14
HDFCCHAIRMANDeepakParekh
Tuesday said he sees 20 per cent
drop in property prices of unsold
residentialinventory,andadvised
developers to offload their stocks
to enhance liquidity position. He
alsocautioneddevelopersagainst
over leveraging, which can affect
their businesses in the long-run.
“Ithinkthepricesofrealestate
havetocomedownandwillcome
down. I believe Naredco’s esti-
mate is between 10-15 per cent. I
feel one must be prepared for
even 20 per cent,” Parekh said
whileaddressingrepresentatives
fromtherealestatesectorthrough
WWW.INDIANEXPRESS.COM
OIL SILVER
$26.15 `38,100
World could
lose collective
$9 trillion in
output in 2 yrs
THE MASSIVE collapse
of economic activity
across the world —
which would result in a
3 per cent contraction in
the global economy —
caused by the novel
coronavirus would
result in the steepest
downturn since the
Great Depression in the
1930s.
According to the IMF
chief economist, even in
the best case scenario,
the world is likely to lose
a cumulative $9 trillion
in output over two years
— greater than the
combined GDP of
Germany and Japan
ingtoimprove,andestablishment
closures and structural shifts in
firm and household behaviour,
leading to more lasting supply
chain disruptions and weakness
in aggregate demand”.
TheFundconcededthatthere
isextremeuncertaintyaroundits
global growth forecast, and that
many countries face a multi-lay-
ered crisis, comprising a health
shock,domesticeconomicdisru-
ptions, plummeting external de-
mand, capital flow reversals, and
a collapse in commodity prices.
Itsaidpolicymakerswillbere-
quired to implement substantial
targeted fiscal, monetary, and fi-
nancial market measures to sup-
port affected households and
businesses, given that the eco-
nomicfalloutreflectsparticularly
acuteshocksinspecificsectors. FE
which can have a strong bearing
on profitability,” it added.
Globally, too, the situation
continuestobeprecariousforair-
lines. “The industry’s outlook
growsdarkerbytheday.Thescale
of the crisis makes a sharp V-
shaped recovery unlikely.
Realistically,itwillbeaU-shaped
recovery with domestic travel
comingbackfasterthantheinter-
national market. We could see
more than half of passenger rev-
enuesdisappear.Thatwouldbea
$314billionhit,”saidAlexandrede
Juniac, director general and CEO
of International Air Transport
Association (IATA).
“Several governments have
stepped up with new or expan-
dedfinancialrelief measures,but
the situation remains critical.
Airlines could burn through $61
billionof cashreservesinthesec-
ondquarteralone.Thatputsatrisk
25millionjobsdependentonavi-
ation. And without urgent relief,
many airlines will not survive to
lead the economic recovery,” de
Juniac added.
videoconferencing,organisedby
realestatedevelopersassociations
— Naredco and Credai.
He said the drop in prices will
beforexistingflatsthatarealready
builtbutthedevelopersaresitting
on those stocks as they are wait-
ing for prices to increase later.
“Compromise, compromise
andcompromise.Bewillingtoof-
floadsomeoftheunsoldinvento-
ries at whatever price. You need
liquidity,”Parekhadvisedthereal
estate developers.
“No one who has sanctioned
loanstoyouorgivenaPEcommit-
menttodaywillagreetodisburse
post COVID-19. They will review
it again, they will change their
mind and they will relook at the
big issues,” he added.
 12 SPORT
THE INDIAN EXPRESS, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 15, 2020
FELLAINI DISCHARGED
Former Manchester United star Marouane Fellaini was discharged
after three weeks in a Chinese hospital being treated for coronavirus,
his club said. The 32-year-old Shandong Luneng midfielder will now
spend 14 days in quarantine for further observation.

‘Watchedmumworkwithoutmasks, International games could

be off until 2021: Fifa VP
gloves…howcouldIstayathome?’ ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, APRIL 14

MOST INTERNATIONAL football might not be

Spanish footballer Dovale on working as a pharmacist in A Coruña during the coronavirus crisis
ANTONIO RODRIGUEZ DOVALE
INSPAIN,wearealwaysout.Hangingoutwith
friends after work, grabbing a beer, going out
for tapas and having late dinners — later even
thantheIndians.Ourstreetsareneverempty.
Restaurants are never shut. People are never
home.That’sourculture.Itdefinesoursociety.
But right now, it’s all closed; all gone. And it
won’tcomebackforalongtime.Youcansense
the fear and unease because us Spaniards are
not made to live in this kind of situation.
Hundredsofpeoplehavebeendyingevery
day in Spain since the outbreak of the coron-
aviruspandemichere.Wewereallveryproud
ofourhealthsystem,convinceditwasthebest
intheworld.Weneverexpecteditwillcollapse
likethis.Weneverexpectedsomethingassim-
pleasafacemaskwillnotbeavailable.People
aredyingalone.Isthereanythingmoreheart-
breakingthanthefactthatyoucan’tevenhave
yourlovedonesnexttoyouwhenyouaredy-
ing? It’s a very sad situation. And scary.
Six weeks ago, I had my bags packed and
was ready to leave for Southeast Asia, where I
was close to signing for a club and begin the
new season. Ever since graduating from La
Masia,thefabledBarcelonaacademy,andplay-
ingforCeltaVigoforalmostfiveseasons,Ihave
been crisscrossing around the world, includ-
ing India where I played for Bengaluru FC and
East Bengal. I have really enjoyed playing in
Asia so I was looking forward to the new sea-
son, which begins in March in the South
Eastern region.
Suddenly,though,thingsstartedtogetse-
rious.ThailandandMalaysiastartedimposing
strict restrictions on visitors from Europe and
within days, Spain announced a lockdown.
Thatwasanewsituationnotjustforme,butfor
everybody. We all just had to stay at home.
Onlypharmacyandsupermarketswereopen.
Just before I had joined Bengaluru FC in
2017, I had completed my pharmacy course.
My family owns a pharmacy around 10 min-
utes from our home in the coastal city of A
A product of La Masia, the fabled Barcelona academy, Antonio Rodriguez Dovale has played for La Liga outfit Celta Vigo as
well as Indian clubs Bengaluru FC and East Bengal.
Coruña,inthenorthwestofSpain.Mymother
runsthepharmacy.Sheis65yearsold–inthe
age group that puts her at high risk. I was
watching my mum working in the pharmacy
without masks, without gloves helping peo-
ple... how could I stay at home? (She has not
even been living in the same room as my fa-
ther since this began because of the risk).
So I joined her at the pharmacy. For six
weeks, I have been meeting people who are
scaredandconfused.Theydon’tknowwhatis
rightforthem,andwhatwillbesafetouse.For
instance, till now the government was saying
a mask wasn’t needed. That was because we
did not have enough of them. So whatever
quantity we had, those were made available
for the medical staff.
But this week, they are saying masks are
needed to protect ourselves from the virus.
People don’t know what to expect. Every day
thereisnewinformation,whichisoppositeto
thedaybefore.SoIcanseethefearamongpeo-
ple, especially the older ones.
The panic is mainly for items like masks,
gloves and hand sanitiser because the supply
isverylimited.Ispendalotof mytimetalking
tomanufacturersandsuppliersoftheseitems
butthedemandisveryhigh.People,infact,are
notbuyinganythingelsebecausetheyarealso
becoming smarter in spending their money,
knowing there is going to be a massive eco-
nomic impact of this. After years of financial
problems and high unemployment rates, the
situation was just starting to get better. But
whenweopenupagain,wewillnotgofrom0
to 100 quickly. It will take time to recover for
the business, restaurants, services, hotels...
Asformeandthemillionsof footballersin
Spain, we are waiting for things to get normal
so that the sport can begin again. Right now, I
am spending eight-nine hours at the phar-
macy every day. But in the morning, I make
sureIdomyworkoutsathome.Ihavebought
biggallonsofwaterandIusethemasweights.
I am also lucky that I have a big parking space
so I can run there. It’s rudimentary stuff, but I
makesureItrainbecauseoncethingsgetnor-
mal, I want to travel and play again.
I miss football so much right now. I feel
proud of helping my people. I am, however,
missing football deeply. So till I can start play-
ingagain,thisisnotjustthebestthingIcando,
but the only thing I can do.
Dovale,30,isaSpanishfootballerwhohasplayedfor
Indian clubs like Bengaluru FC and East Bengal. He has
been working as a pharmacist in A Coruna during the
coronavirus crisis. He spoke to Mihir Vasavda
playeduntil2021duetocoronaviruspandemic
travel restrictions and the need to give club
competitionsthechancetoresume,aFIFAvice
president has said. Victor Montagliani, a
Canadian who is president of the governing
body for North and Central America and the
Caribbean, has been heading a FIFA working
groupformulatingplanstodealwiththeimpli-
cations of the world's biggest sport being
largely shut down since last month.
FIFA already has called off matches be-
tweencountriesthatwereduetobeplayedin
March and June. Montagliani, CONCACAF's
president,believestheSeptember,Octoberand
November windows for national team
matches could be scrapped.
“I personally think that might be a bit of a
challenge, not so much because of just the
health issues around the world and the vari-
ousdegreesofpreparedness,butalsocommit-
tingtointernationaltravelassoonaswecome
back,” Montagliani said in an interview with
The Associated Press. “I think that domestic
football is a priority. September is still in the
books, but I would garner to say that I'm not
sure it's there on solid ground the way things
aretrendingrightnow.” Thereturnoffansinto
packedstadiumscouldbedependentonavac-
cine for the COVID-19 disease being ready —
and that might not be until 2021.
“If we get the green light to play a football
match. I highly doubt that first football match
will be with fans. I just can't see that. I think
thatwouldbetakenamassiverisk,”hesaidin
a video interview from Vancouver, British
Columbia“I'm pretty sure it'll be a phased in
approach, just like the rest of society is going
tobeisthenintermsofustryingtogetbackto
normal here.” A full resumption of football in
2020 might not be possible in parts of the
world hardest hit by the pandemic, including
Europe and North America.
“If you take that across international
boundaries, that's a significant issue,”
Montagliani said. “And so, yes absolutely,
there's always that possibility.”
CONCACAF's hexagonal that determines
the region's three direct qualifiers is tostart in
the fall with each nation playing two games
WHY DOMESTIC FIXTURES
TAKE PRIORITY
CONCLUDINGLEAGUES Withmost
of themajorleaguesundecidedin
termsof silverware,promotionand
relegation,itmakessensetoensure
someformof conclusiontothemif
thegamecomesbackoninaviable
timeframe.Thefinancialaspectof
theproblemcan’tbeignoredeither.
TRAVELCONCERNS Evenafterthe
worldstartsturningthecorner,
internationaltravelwillbeoneof the
lastaspectsthatwillgetbacktohow
itwasafewmonthsago.Itwillbe
mucheasierforteamstotravel
withinacountrytoplaymatches.
CLUBSWARY TopEuropeanclubs
areanywayreluctanttolettheir
playersleaveoninternationalduty.
Withatighterscheduleupon
resumption,suchgameswillnotbe
popularwithelitemanagers.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUEINLIMBO
Thefateof theUEFAChampions
League,suspendedattheRoundof
16stage,isstillundecided;amatter
of bigbroadcastcommitments.
FIRSTTHINGSFIRST WithEuro
2020postponed,therewillbetime
todecidethelastfew qualifying
spots.TheQatarWorldCupisin2022
andthedecision-makersmayfeel
thereisenoughtimeforaqualifying
system,evenif ithastobe crunched.
each in September, October and November.
The United States, Mexico, Costa Rica,
Jamaica, Honduras and either El Salvador or
Canada will compete. Scheduling will be dis-
cussed further by a working group featuring
thesixconfederations.“I'mfairlyconfidentthe
March window in 2021 will be fine,”
Montagliani said. "The priority is to help our
national leagues … then look at our events.”

OVER THE HEDGE by Michael Fry & T Lewis

CROSSWORD 4092 DAY TODAY
ARIES (Mar 21 - Apr 20)
Whohasarighttosay
whatisorisnot
possibleforyou?
Certainly, nobody will
knowwhat’sgoodforyoubetter
thanyou,thoughsomewill
imaginethattheydo.Atactful
approachmayserveyoubest,
especiallyasyou’llfindsome
veryusefuladvice inamongst
partners’claimsandcomments.
TAURUS (Apr 21 - May 21)
An emotional storm
will have been
whipped up before
CALVIN & HOBBES by Bill Watterson the week is over.
Probably everything will
revolve around a few silly
misunderstandings, and in that
case you can put them right
yourself. Your ideas are good,
even when you’re not quite sure
ACROSS Down of the facts, so test your
1 Those cornflakes that snap 2 Concerning the first woman thoughts out privately before
so quickly? (9) magistrate of long ago (5) you go public.
BY PETER VIDAL
LIBRA (Sep 24 - Oct 23)
Even small, minor
and trivial events
will eventually
assume a deep long-
term significance. Give current
developments time to unfold
and wait for the consequences
to be resolved before reaching
a final judgment. You may
have to wait a little longer
for the position to be
absolutely clear.
SCORPIO (Oct 24 - Nov 23)
Telepathy may offer
a better means of
communication
than plain speech,
such is the potential for
misunderstanding. It may be
best to mix with people who
are capable of tuning in to your
subtle way of doing things.
Perhaps you should write
things down and see how they
look on paper.

8 Wool drops a point in the 3 Ingenious kind of statue (6) GEMINI (May 22 - June 21) SAGITTARIUS (Nov 24 - Dec 22)
market (5) Do keep an eye out Socially your current
4 Knows beyond doubt there’s stars really couldn’t
9 A loathsome creature - repel plenty of water? (4,4)
for children who
may be in difficulties be better. Don’t let
it perhaps (7) considerations of
5 One who stops to interfere or straying from the
10 It makes a very fine trap (6) (6) straight and narrow. For your cost come between you and a
own part, do be aware of any hoped-for invitation or
11 Worst cry of pain to give (6) 6 It may unfold and give way outing. If you want to make
(4,3)
sudden desire to throw caution
12 Come into somebody else’s to the wind. You must decide your first billion, then think
land, perhaps (8) 7 Just part (4,5) whether you are truly ready for laterally: the answers to your
the consequences. If you’re not, questions may be right under
15 Evidently a painter of note
(8)
11 Does it give a view of the
cove? (3,6) MARVIN by Tom Armstrong then hold back. your nose.

CANCER (June 22 - July 23) CAPRICORN (Dec 23 - Jan 20)

18 Anyone in it is out (6) 13 Their falling would ruin acts
Areyousuffering Today is not going to
in a way (8)
20 Observing it’s a dumbbell? fromdivided be easy, but it could
(6) 14 He provides French wine loyalties?Issomeone be useful. What is
with the rent perhaps (7) inthefamilydrawing required of you is a
21 By way of the channel bridge
youinadifferentdirectiontothe willingness to put
(7) 16 A four-foot cycle (6)
oneyou’vechosen?Lookupon yourself in someone else’s
22 Fat bees out after nothing 17 A horseman put out is an thisasarichperiodinwhichto shoes and a readiness to change
(5) aggressive person (6) cometoanewpersonal your plans. What’s more, a
understanding.Andthatincludes valuable new friendship
23 The farthest one will be from 19 Come out with me again and
gainingafreshperspectiveon could be born out of current
a bank (9) have a drink (5)
yourownhiddendesires. chance encounters.
SolutionsCrossword4091:Across:1Archers,4Motel,7Rare,8Lilliput,10Second LEO (July 24 - Aug 23) AQUARIUS (Jan 21- Feb 19)
hand,12Lobbed,13Lethal,15Headkeeper,18Inaction,19Frog,20Greed,21 You want to get your
Trainer.Down:1Acres,2Corncobs,3Slight,4Malingerer,5Taps,6Lateral,9 Lunar alignments do
seem to be so utterly own way, and with
Interested,11Chaperon,12Leading,14Adroit,16Roger,17Gate. the planets so
secretive. Rather
than keep thoughts favourably aligned to
and feelings to yourself, why your sign you probably will. The
not ask what makes you so very only qualification is that you
JUMBLED WORDS DifficultyLevel2s
reluctant to reveal certain must do the donkey-work
yourself; nobody else is going to
SOLUTION SUDOKU 4179

important hopes. Is it that you

Instructions think that other people just do it for you. One other word
Givenbelowarefourjumbledwords.Solvethejumblestomakeproperwordsandmovethemto TosolveaSudokupuzzle, aren’t ready to hear what you though - just because you think
therespectivesquaresbelow.Selectthelettersintheshadedsquaresandjumblethemtoget everydigitfrom1to9 have to say? you’re right, that doesn’t mean
SUDOKU 4180

theanswerforthegivenquip. mustappearineachofthe that you are right.

___arethesmilesofnature.-LeighHunter(7) VIRGO (Aug 24 - Sep 23)
nineverticalcolumns,in PISCES (Feb 20 - Mar 20)
Can you afford to
eachoftheninehorizontal make an error of Many Pisceans
SUYOR AEPQLU rowsandineachofthe judgment now? I adopt a rather
nineboxes. think not. You see, disdainful attitude
the critical planets are lined up towards money,
in such a position that, if you mainly because they find it so
HNWOS AABRSC DifficultyLevel take a risk and lose, you will be difficult to understand. Yet if
hit in the wallet. Actually you’re you make the right moves now,
1s=Veryeasy;2s=Easy; you will certainly end up
in for an extravagant year,
3s=Medium;4s=Hard; wealthier in the long run.
which is precisely why you
5s=VeryHard;6s= should exert tight controls. Agreements work best if you’re
Answer: Colours are the smiles of nature. - Leigh Hunter Genius looking at long-term results.
SOLUTION: YOURS, SHOWN, PLAQUE, SCARAB

Vol LXXXVIII No. 134 Regd.No. DL-21046/03-05

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